THE 
ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS   SYLVIA 


BOOKS  BY 

C.  N.  AND  A.  M.  WILLIAMSON 

THE  LIGHTNING  CONDUCTOR 

THE  PRINCESS  PASSES 

MY  FRIEND  THE  CHAUFFEUR 

LADY  BETTY  ACROSS  THE  WATER 

ROSEMARY  IN  SEARCH  OF  A  FATHER 

THE  CAR  OF  DESTINY 

THE  CHAPERON 

THE  PRINCESS  VIRGINIA 

SET  IN  SILVER 

ETC.,  ETC. 


THE  ADVENTURE 
OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

By 

MRS.  C.  N.   WILLIAMSON 


New  York 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Company 
1909 


AUTHORIZED  EDITION 
DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 


PS33I1 


TO 

MY   AMERICAN    PRINCESS 

MRS.   CLARENCE    POSTLEY 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTE1  *AOE 

I.  THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS 3 

II.  THE  INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN       ...  24 

III.  THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  THE  BARE  KNEES     .    .  34 

IV.  MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN         66 

V.  NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME 81 

VI.  THE  HONOURS  OF  THE  DAY 98 

VII.  TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE 107 

VIII.  THE  BEAR  IN  His  DEN 131 

IX.  A  WHITE  NIGHT 152 

X.  "THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND"     .    .    .  186 

XI.  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS        ....  202 

XII.  BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN 221 

XIII.  NEWS  BY  TELEPHONE 248 

XIV.  THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK 256 

XV.  THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR       ....  284 

XVI.  THE  OPENING  OF  A  DOOR 297 

XVII.  THE  THIRD  COURSE    ,                   ....    .  302 


THE 
ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS   SYLVIA 


The 
Adventure  of  Princess  Sylvia 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS 

"Who  is  Sylvia  ?    What  is  she, 
That  all  our  swains  commend  her  ?  " 

I'M  dashed  if  I  do!"  said  the  Princess. 
"My  dear — if  anyone  should  hear  you!" 
groaned  the  Grand  Duchess.     "He  is  a  most 
estimable  young  man,  I  am  sure,  and  a  very  suit 
able  match." 

" Call  him  a  match,  if  you  like;  he's  certainly  a 
stick.  Anyway,  he's  not  a  match  for  me. 
There's  only  one  existing."  And  the  Princess's 
eyes  were  lifted  to  the  heavens,  as  if  the  being 
at  whom  she  hinted  were  placed  high  as  the  sun 
that  shone  above  her. 

The  Grand  Duchess  was  not  herself  "Heredi 
tary."  Her  dear  lord  and  master  had  been  that, 


4       THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

which  was  perhaps  the  reason  why  such  stateli- 
ness  as  she  hacj  was  almost  all  acquired.  She 
dropped  it  sometimes,  when  alone  with  her 
unmarried,  unmanageable  young  daughter;  and 
to-day  (in  the  sweet,  old-fashioned  garden  of  the 
house  at  Richmond,  lent  by  Queen  Victoria)  was 
one  of  these  occasions.  The  Grand  Duchess 
pouted,  and  looked  like  a  plump,  sulky,  elderly 
child,  as  she  inquired  what  the  Princess  Sylvia 
expected  in  the  way  of  a  matrimonial  prize. 

:<  What  do  I  expect  ?"  echoed  the  young  lady. 
"I  expect  an  emperor.  In  fact,  the  Emperor." 
For  a  few  moments  the  Grand  Duchess  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald  remained  dumb.  Then  she 
inadequately  murmured,  "Dear  me!"  Yet  her 
demeanour  did  not  suggest  a  stricken  mind. 
She  merely  looked  surprised,  with  an  added 
expression  that  might  signify  a  slow  mental 
readjustment. 

"It  is  really  not  entirely  impossible,"  she  com 
mented  at  last.  ' '  But  —  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia 
is  a  very  great  man." 

"He  is  the  only  man,"  returned  the  Princess 
calmly.  "He  always  has  been.  He  is,  and 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  5 

ever  will  be.  He  is  the  Napoleon  of  his  genera 
tion,  without  Napoleon's  meanness  or  brutality. 
Although  he's  not  an  Englishman,  even  you 
admit  his  virtues." 

"Don't  speak  as  if  I  were  bristling  with  Eng 
lish  prejudices,"   scolded  the  Grand  Duchess. 
"I  ceased  to  be  English  when  I  married  your 
father.     But  why  did  you  never  mention  this  - 
er  —  desire  of  yours  before?" 

"I  am  far  too  maidenly,"  responded  Sylvia, 
"to  give  my  feeling  any  such  bold  name.  /  have 
not  ceased  to  be  English,  if  my  mother  has. 
Indeed,  I  give  my  feeling  no  name  at  all.  I 
haven't  spoken  of  it  —  if  there  be  an  'it'  to 
speak  of  -  -  before,  simply  because  really  I'm 
not  crying  for  a  particular  toy  to  play  with. 
I'm  only  saying,  if  I  can't  have  that,  I  won't 
have  another  toy  —  a  poor,  unworthy  toy." 

'You  call   Prince   Henri   d'Ortens   a   'poor, 
unworthy  toy '  ?  " 

"Compared  with  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  and 
compared  with  me.  Look  at  me,  mother. 
Would  I  not  make  an  empress?" 

Sylvia  laughed,  sprang  up  from  the  seat  that 


6       THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

girdled  the  great  trunk  of  the  Lebanon  cedar,  and 
stood  with  her  bright  head  erect,  her  lips  still 
smiling. 

The  August  sun  streamed  down  upon  the  girl 
and  bathed  her  in  its  glory.  Her  hair  was  a  net 
work  of  spun  gold,  under  its  radiance;  her  dark 
eyes  jewels;  her  skin  roses  and  snow;  her  simple 
white  muslin  gown  a  dazzling  robe  fit  for  a  fairy, 
rather  than  an  earthly  princess. 

Yes,  she  would  make  an  empress,  or  she  would 
make  a  goddess.  So  a  man  must  have  thought, 
even  if  he  had  not  dared  to  love  her.  And  so 
thought  her  mother. 

"The  dear  Queen  has  never  really  favoured 
poor  Henri,"  murmured  the  Grand  Duchess,  a 
light  of  introspection  in  her  eyes.  Already  the 
French  Prince,  with  pretensions  to  the  incompar 
able  hand  of  Sylvia,  was  "poor  Henri."  "I 
mean,  she  has  never  favoured  him  as  a  match 
for  you,  though  she  intimated  to  me  yesterday 
that  she  saw  no  insurmountable  objections  — 
if  you  cared  for  each  other " 

"But  we  don't.  At  least  I  don't.  Which  is 
all  that  signifies." 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  7 

"Pray  do  not  be  so  flippant.  As  for  Max 
imilian  of  Rhaetia,  it  is  perhaps  natural  that  he 
has  never  been  thought  of  in  connection  with 
you,  my  dear.  He  is,  no  doubt,  the  most  sought- 
after  parti  in  --  well,  yes,  I  may  say  in  the  world. 
Not  a  girl  with  Royal  blood  in  her  veins  but 
would  go  on  her  knees  to  him " 

"I  would  not,"  cried  Sylvia.  "I  might  wor 
ship  him,  but  he  should  go  on  his  knees  to  me." 

"I  doubt  if  those  knees  will  ever  bend  to  man 
or  woman,"  said  the  Grand  Duchess.  "That, 
however,  is  a  mere  matter  of  speech.  I  am 
serious  now,  and  I  wish  you  to  be.  Though 
you  are  a  very  beautiful  girl,  my  child  —  there 
is  no  disguising  that  fact  from  you,  as  it  has 
been  dinned  into  your  ears  since  you  were  old 
enough  to  understand  —  and  there  is  no  better 
blood  in  Europe  than  runs  in  your  veins;  still, 
our  circumstances  are — er — unfortunately  such 
that  —  that  we  are,  for  the  present,  slightly  han 
dicapped." 

"We're  beggars,"  said  Sylvia.  "But  — Co- 
phetua  married  a  beggar  maid ;"  and  she  smiled. 

"Pray  don't  liken  yourself  to  any  such  persons, 


8       THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

my  dear, "  objected  the  Grand  Duchess,  who, 
on  principle,  had  so  often  objected  to  Sylvia's 
unconventionalities  that  the  attitude  of  objec 
tion  had  become  chronic.  :<  Your  father  is  dead. 
The  Grand  Duchy  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald  has 
been  absorbed  by  Prussia  —  for  a  price,  it  is 
true ;  but  it  is  your  brother  who  has  had  most  of 
the  benefit  of  that  price.  And  though  my  dear 
husband  was  second  cousin  to  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  who  loved  him  during  his  life  as  an 
elder  brother,  and  though  you  are  strictly  within 
the  pale  from  which  Maximilian  is  entitled  to 
select  a  wife,  one  must  admit  that  there  are  other 
girls  who,  from  a  worldly  point  of  view,  might 
be  considered  more  suitable." 

"I  wasn't  thinking  of  the  worldly  point  of 
view,"  said  the  incorrigible  one,  with  unusual 
softness.  She  could  be  gentle  and  tender 
enough  in  certain  moods;  but  she  was  used  to 
taking  the  lead  with  her  mother. 

"People  —  men  or  women  —  with  Royal 
blood  in  their  veins  must  think  of  that  point  of 
view,"  returned  the  Grand  Duchess.  She  was 
not  Royal,  save  by  marriage,  though  her  long 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  9 

since  dead  father,  the  English  Duke  of  North- 
minster,  claimed  ancestry  from  kings  and  had 
married  a  near  relation  of  Queen  Victoria.  But 
he  had  been  one  of  the  richest  men  in  the  world 
at  the  time  of  his  daughter's  marriage;  and 
the  exchequer  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald  had  sadly 
needed  replenishing.  It,  or  rather  its  representa 
tive,  had  finally  swallowed  a  large  part  of  the 
Duke  of  Northminster's  private  fortune,  the 
enormous  remainder  having  vanished  in  a  great 
financial  panic;  so  that  just  before  the  Heredi 
tary  Grand  Duke  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald  had 
been  gathered  to  his  fathers,  he  had  been  induced 
to  make  terms  with  his  cousin,  the  then  reigning 
German  Emperor,  for  the  Grand  Duchy.  Thus 
deprived  of  his  inheritance,  the  only  son,  Fried- 
rich,  had  joyfully  accepted  an  offer  of  adoption 
as  Crown  Prince  from  the  childless  old  King  of 
Abruzzia. 

The  widowed  Grand  Duchess,  not  loving  the 
thought  of  a  German  residence,  when  bereft  of 
her  ancient  importance ;  hating  her  son's  adopted 
land  of  Abruzzia,  which  she  considered  "half 
savage"  (yet  liking  still  less  the  alternative  of 


10     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

a  wandering  life  on  the  Continent,  or  a  home 
with  the  uncle  who  had  inherited  her  father's 
title  and  estates),  had  gratefully  caught  at 
Queen  Victoria's  kindness.  Ever  since  Sylvia 
Victoria  Alexandra  Mary  Valerie  Hildegarde, 
her  daughter,  had  been  a  proud  little  Princess 
of  ten  years  old,  the  two  had  lived  in  the  ancient, 
rose-and-ivy-embowered  house  placed  at  their 
disposal  by  Her  Gracious  Majesty.  Sylvia  had 
been  educated  in  England;  all  her  thoughts 
and  ideas  were  those  of  an  English  girl,  and  a 
somewhat  "advanced"  English  girl.  Her  very 
beauty  was  more  English  than  German  —  the 
delicately  chiselled  nose,  the  short,  haughty  upper 
lip,  the  frank  imperiousness  of  the  hazel  eyes 
under  the  black  sweep  of  lashes,  and  dark,  soft 
curve  of  brow.  She  was  twenty-one  now,  and 
vastly  tired  of  being  Royal,  for  already  her  high 
place  in  the  world  had  brought  her  more  of 
inconvenience  than  privilege. 

"I  don't  wish  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  to  want 
me  because  I  am  suitable,  but  because  I  am 
— irresistible,"  she  asseverated.  "I  want  love — 
love  —  or  I  won't  marry  at  all." 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  11 

"But  that  is  nonsense,"  gravely  pronounced 
the  elder,  steeped  for  long  years  in  all  the 
traditions  and  conventionalities  of  Royalty. 
"Women  in  our  position  must  be  satisfied  with 
the  hope  that  love  may  come  after  marriage; 
or,  if  not,  we  must  rest  content  in  doing  our 
duty  in  that  state  of  life  to  which  heaven  has 
been  pleased  to  call  us!" 

"Bother  duty!"  remarked  Sylvia,  with  an 
impatient  disregard  for  those  elegancies  of 
speech  to  which  she  had  been  so  carefully  brought 
up.  "Thank  goodness,  nowadays  not  all  the 
king's  horses  and  all  the  king's  men  can  make 
even  a  princess  marry  any  one  against  her  will. 
I  hate  the  everlasting  cant  about  duty  in  mar 
riage.  When  people  love  each  other  they  are  kind 
and  good  and  sweet  and  virtuous,  because  it  is  a 
pleasure,  not  because  it's  duty;  and  that's  the 
only  sort  of  loyalty  worth  having  between  man  and 
woman,  according  to  my  ideas.  I  would  not  take 
anything  less  from  a  man ;  and  I  should  despise 
him  if  he  were  ready  to  accept  less  from  me." 

"You  are  almost  impious,  Sylvia;  you  ought 
to  have  been  born  a  bourgeoise,"  said  her  mother. 


12     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

But  at  this  moment,  when  the  clash  of  tongues, 
as  opinion  struck  upon  opinion,  was  imminent, 
there  occurred  a  happy  diversion  in  the  arrival 
of  a  servant  with  letters. 

Sylvia,  who  was  a  neglectful  correspondent, 
had  nothing;  but  two  or  three  bulky  envelopes 
had  come  for  the  Grand  Duchess,  and  eagerly 
she  broke  the  seal  of  one  which  bore  the  hand 
writing  of  her  son  Friedrich,  now  Crown  Prince 
of  Abruzzia. 

"Open  the  others  for  me,  dear,  while  I  see 
what  Fritz  has  to  say,"  she  requested.  And 
Sylvia  leisurely  obeyed. 

There  was  a  note  from  an  old  friend  of  whom 
she  was  fond;  and  she  had  just  begun  to  be 
interested  in  the  first  paragraph,  when  an  ejacu 
lation  from  her  mother  caused  a  quick  lifting  of 
her  lashes. 

The  Grand  Duchess  was  staring  at  the 
scrawled  pages,  held  close  to  her  near-sighted 
eyes,  while  a  bright  flush  troubled  the  surface  of 
her  usually  serene  countenance. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  exclaimed  Sylvia. 
"Anything  wrong  with  Fritz?" 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  13 

"No  —  no  —  nothing  in  the  least  wrong," 
murmured  the  Grand  Duchess  absent-mindedly. 
"Far  from  it,  indeed;  but  really --this  is  the 
most  extraordinary  coincidence.  It  seems  almost 
too  strange  that  it  should  come  at  such  a  moment. 
Yet  I  suppose  I  am  not  dreaming  ?  "  She  peered 
questioningly  at  Sylvia;  for  it  must  be  con 
fessed  that  the  Grand  Duchess  did  sometimes 
sleep,  perchance  even  dream,  in  the  warm 
seclusion  of  the  old  riverside  garden. 

"Life  is  a  dream!"  hummed  the  Princess. 
"But  you  look  awake,  dear;  and  I've  never 
known  you  to  talk  whole  sentences  in  your  sleep. 
What  has  Fritz  been  doing?" 

"It  is  not  Fritz;  it's  your  emperor,"  returned 
her  mother. 

It  was  now  Sylvia's  turn  to  flush.  This,  then, 
was  the  "coincidence " !  She  wished,  yet  vaguely 
dreaded,  to  ask  for  the  purport  of  the  news.  Of 
course  it  was  ridiculous  to  blush,  because  it  was 
ridiculous  to  care.  But  the  fact  remained  that 
she  did  blush  and  that  she  did  care. 

Princess  Sylvia  had  never  seen  Maximilian  of 
Rhaetia;  nevertheless,  as  she  had  half  laughingly, 


14     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

half  earnestly  declared,  he  had  been  for  her 
the  one  real  man  in  a  world  of  shadow  men, 
since  childish  days.  In  the  little  room  grandil 
oquently  called  her  "study"  (a  room  sacred  to 
herself  alone,  whose  secrets  even  her  mother  did 
not  share)  were  preserved  many  souvenirs  of  the 
Emperor,  which  had  been  accumulating  for 
years.  There  were  paragraphs  cut  from  news 
papers,  setting  forth  his  great  prowess  as  a  sol 
dier,  hunter,  and  mountaineer,  with  dramatic 
anecdotes  of  his  haughty  courage  when  in  danger. 
There  were  portraits  of  Maximilian,  beginning 
from  an  early  age,  up  to  the  present,  when  he 
was  shown  as  a  tall,  stern -eyed,  passionate- 
lipped,  aggressive-chinned  young  man  of  thirty. 
There  were  copies  of  pictures  he  had  painted, 
plays  he  had  written,  music  he  had  composed, 
fierce  and  warlike  speeches  he  had  delivered; 
accounts  of  improvements  in  guns  and  gun 
powder  invented  by  him;  with  numerous  other 
records  of  his  accomplishments  and  achieve 
ments;  for  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  was,  in  his 
own  mind,  and  that  of  his  people,  the  one  shin 
ing  exception  to  the  rule  that  a  "Jack  of  all 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  15 

trades  can  be  master  of  none."  He  was  master 
of  all,  or  at  least  all  he  had  ever  attempted 
—  their  name  being  legion  —  and  Sylvia  loved 
him  because  it  was  so.  The  locked  drawers  of 
her  desk  were  hallowed  by  the  records  of  her 
hero  which  they  hid. 

Now,  the  thought  that  flashed  into  her  mind 
was  that  Fritz's  letter  might  perhaps  contain  a 
gossiping  account  of  the  Emperor's  engagement 
to  one  of  those  other  Royal  girls,  who,  as  the 
Grand  Duchess  had  justly  observed,  were  more 
suitable  to  match  him  than  poor,  pretty  little 
Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald.  Maxi 
milian  was  thirty  years  old  (Sylvia  knew  his  age 
to  the  day,  almost  to  the  hour) ;  therefore  it  was 
remarkable  that  he  had  not  long  ago  listened  to 
the  advice  of  his  Chancellor  and  chosen  a  wife 
worthy  to  be  Empress  of  Rhaetia  and  the  mother 
of  an  heir. 

"  Guess  what  Fritz  writes  of  him,"  said  the 
Grand  Duchess,  controlling  visible  emotion. 

Sylvia  also  controlled  hers,  crushing  it  down 
with  a  relentless  hand,  and  telling  herself  that 
what  she  felt  was  at  its  worst  but  wounded  vanity. 


16     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"He's  going  to  be  married?"  she  quietly 
suggested. 

"That  depends."  Her  mother  laughed  ner 
vously,  with  a  stifled  and  mysterious  delight. 
"Guess  again  —  but  no,  I  won't  tease  you. 
After  this  letter,  coming  as  it  has  in  the  midst 
of  our  conversation,  I  shall  be  a  firm  believer  in 
telepathy.  It  is  too  wonderful.  He  may  be 
going  to  be  married;  he  may  not.  For,  my 
dear,  dear  child,  he  wants  —  to  marry  you." 

Sylvia  sprang  to  her  feet.  Perhaps  such 
exhibition  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  a  Royal 
maiden  decorously  sued  (by  proxy)  for  her 
hand,  was  hardly  correct.  But  Sylvia  thought 
of  no  such  considerations.  She  did  not  even 
know  that  she  had  left  her  chair.  For  a  moment 
a  delicate  blue  haze  floated  between  her  eyes  and 
the  Grand  Duchess's  pleased,  plump  face. 

"He — wants — to — marry — me?"  she  echoed 
dazedly. 

"Yes,  you,  my  darling.  Providence  must 
have  drawn  your  inclination  toward  him.  It  is 
really  a  romance.  Some  day,  no  doubt,  it  will 
be  told  to  the  world  in  history." 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  17 

Sylvia  did  not  hear.  She  stood  quite  still,  her 
hands  clasped  before  her,  the  letter  she  had  been 
reading  on  the  grass  at  her  feet. 

"Did  he  — the  Emperor  —  tell  this  to  Fritz 
and  ask  him  to  write  to  you  ?"  she  questioned. 

"Not  —  not  exactly  that,  dear,"  admitted  the 
Grand  Duchess,  her  face  changing;  for  Sylvia 
was  so  exacting  and  held  such  peculiar  ideas, 
that  it  was  sometimes  rather  difficult  to  know 
how  she  would  receive  the  most  ordinary 
announcements. 

The  rapt  expression  faded  from  Sylvia's  feat 
ures,  like  the  passing  of  dawn. 

"Not  —  exactly  that  ? "  she  repeated.  "Then 
what  —  how  ?  " 

"Perhaps  —  though  it  is  not  strictly  the  cor 
rect  thing  —  you  had  better  read  Fritz's  letter  ?" 

Sylvia  put  her  hands  behind  her  back  with  a 
childlike  gesture.  "I  —  somehow  I  don't  want 
to.  Please  tell  me,"  she  said  simply. 

"Well,  then,  you  know  what  an  admiration 
Fritz  has  felt  for  Count  von  Markstein,  the 
Rhaetian  Chancellor,  ever  since  the  visit  the 
Chancellor  paid  to  Abruzzia  ?  They  have  kept 


18     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

up  a  correspondence  from  time  to  time,  and  the 
sort  of  friendship  which  often  exists  between  an 
old  man  with  a  great  career  behind  him  and  a 
young  man  with  his  still  to  come.  Now  it 
seems  (in  the  quite  informal  manner  by  which 
such  affairs  are  generally  begun)  that  Count 
von  Markstein  has  written  confidentially  to 
Fritz,  as  our  only  near  male  relative,  to  ask 
how  we  would  regard  an  alliance  between  you 
and  Maximilian,  or  if  we  have  already  disposed 
of  your  hand.  The  Emperor  is  inclined  to 
listen  to  advice  at  last;  and  you,  as  a  Protestant 
Princess " 

"Yes,  a  Protestant  Princess  more  than  ever, 
for  I  protest  against  being  approached  upon  such 
terms!"  Sylvia  exclaimed. 

The  countenance  of  the  Grand  Duchess 
became  overcast.  There  were  certain  draw 
backs  in  having  a  spoiled  beauty  for  a  daughter. 
"Sylvia,"  she  ejaculated,  "surely  you  don't 
mean  —  surely  you  are  not  going  to  throw 
over  such  a  marvellous  chance  as  this — a  chance 
that  a  queen's  daughter  might  gladly  accept  — 
because  of  a  sentimental  schoolgirl  scruple?" 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  19 

"Why  do  you  suppose  the  Emperor  —  or  his 
Chancellor — thinks  of  any  one  so  insignificant 
for  such  a  high  place,  when  there  are  others  far 
more  eligible?"  asked  Sylvia,  with  reflective 
dryness,  answering  one  question  by  another. 

"Fritz  goes  on  to  mention  various  good  rea 
sons  in  his  letter,  if  you  would  only  let  me  tell 
you,  and  would  take  them  sensibly,"  said  the 
much-enduring  elder  woman. 

"I  should  like  to  hear  them,  at  all  events," 
Sylvia  judicially  replied. 

"Well,  as  I  was  beginning  to  explain,  the 
Empress  of  Rhaetia  must  be  a  Protestant.  At 
present,  as  Fritz  says,  there  are  not  many  eligible 
young  Protestant  Princesses  who  would  be 
acceptable  to  the  Rhaetian  people  and  add  to  the 
Emperor's  popularity.  Then,  as.  you  know, 
Maximilian  is  a  man  who  dominates  those 
around  him;  he  wishes  to  marry  a  young  girl 
who,  though  of  Royal  birth,  could  not  by  any 
possibility  have  been  heiress  to  a  throne  of  her 
own.  I  fancy  he  would  choose  to  mould  his  wife 
and  to  take  a  girl  without  too  many  important 
or  importunate  relatives;  for  he  is  not  one  who 


20     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

would  dream  of  adding  to  his  own  greatness  by 
that  of  a  wife.  Besides,  Maximilian  is  partial  to 
England,  and  the  fact  that  you  have  had  an 
English  education  would  be  favourably  rather 
than  unfavourably  regarded  both  by  him  and 
Count  von  Markstein  —  at  least,  so  Fritz 
believes.  And  though  I  have  never  allowed  you, 
since  you  were  a  child,  to  have  your  photograph 
taken,  and  you  have  lived  in  such  seclusion  that 
you  have  been  little  seen,  still  the  rumour  has 
somehow  reached  Maximilian's  ears  that  you 
are  —  not  ugly.  He  has  been  heard  more  than 
once  to  remark  that  whatever  the  future  Empress 
of  Rhaetia  might  be,  she  would  not  be  a  plain 
woman;  therefore,  altogether " 

"Therefore,  altogether,  my  references  appear 
to  be  satisfactory,  and  at  a  pinch  I  might  do  for 
the  place,"  broke  in  Sylvia,  with  hot  impatience. 
"Oh,  mother,  I  will  marry  Maximilian,  or  I  will 
marry  no  man;  but  I  won't  be  married  to  him 
in  Count  von  Markstein's  hateful  cut-and-dried 
way." 

"It's  the  Emperor's  way,  as  well  as  Mark- 
stein's." 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  21 

"Then  for  once  in  his  big,  grand,  obstinate  life, 
he  shall  learn  that  there  are  other  wills  than  his 
in  the  world;  and  that  there  is  one  woman  who 
won't  play  Griselda  even  for  the  sake  of  being 
his  Empress." 

The  Grand  Duchess  looked  worried  (as  well 
she  might,  had  she  been  blessed  or  banned  with  a 
prophetic  soul  to  whisper  of  the  future).  :<You 
look  so  odd  when  you  say  that,"  she  observed; 
"as  if  you  had  —  some  kind  of  plan." 

"And  so  I  have,"  confessed  Sylvia.  "It  came 
to  me  suddenly  --as  all  inspirations  come.  It's 
in  embryo  yet;  but  I  shall  fill  in  the  details." 
She  came  close  to  her  mother,  and  knelt  down  on 
the  grass  at  her  feet,  looking  up  with  a  light  in 
her  eyes  that  no  man,  and  few  women,  could  have 
resisted. 

There  was  nobody  save  the  Grand  Duchess 
and  the  late  roses  to  see  how  a  young  princess 
threw  her  mantle  of  dignity  to  the  winds;  for 
the  two  ladies  did  not  keep  Royal  state  and  a 
Royal  retinue  in  the  quaint  old  house  at  Rich 
mond  ;  and  the  arbour  hid  their  confidence  from 
intrusive  eyes  or  ears. 


22     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"You  do  love  me,  don't  you,  dear?"  cooed 
Sylvia,  softly  as  a  dove. 

>(  You  know  I  do,  my  daughter,  though  I  don't 
pretend  to  understand  you." 

"People  grow  dull  when  we  understand  them 
too  well.  It's  like  solving  a  puzzle;  there's  no 
more  fun  in  it  when  it's  finished.  But  you  do 
wish  me  to  be  happy?" 

"  More  than  anything  else  —  except,  of  course, 
Fritz-  -" 

"Fritz  is  a  man  and  can  take  care  of  himself. 
I  must  only  do  the  best  I  can.  And  there's 
something  I  want  so  much,  and  it  would  give  me 
a  heaven  on  earth,  all  my  own,  if  I  could  win  it. 
Maximilian's  love,  quite  for  myself,  as  a  girl, 
not  a  proper,  'Protestant  Princess.'  I  think 
I  see  how  I  can  win  it,  too,  if  you  will  only 
help  me." 

"I'll  do  my  best,"  cried  the  Grand  Duchess, 
carried  out  of  herself  into  unwonted  impulsive 
ness  by  kisses  soft  and  sweet  as  falling  rose- 
leaves.  "  Only  I  don't  see  what  I  can  do." 

"But  I  see;  and  you  must  promise  to  see  with 
my  eyes." 


THE  ADVENTURE  BEGINS  23 

"They  are  very  bright  ones!"  laughed  her 
mother. 

Princess  Sylvia  put  both  arms  round  the  plump 
waist,  and  gave  the  Grand  Duchess  a  hug.  Then 
she  laughed  —  an  odd,  musical,  half-frightened 
laugh.  "  Mother,  something  wonderful  is  going 
to  happen  to  you  and  me,"  she  exclaimed. 
"  We're  going  to  have  an  adventure." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN 

WILIGHT  fell  late  in  the  tiny  Rhaetian  vil- 
lage  of  Heiligengelt.  So  high  on  the 
mountain-side  were  set  the  few  brown  chalets, 
the  simple  inn,  and  the  church  with  its  Oriental 
spire,  that  they  caught  the  last  red  rays  of  sun 
light,  to  hold  them  flashing  on  burnished  copper 
tiles  and  small  bright  window-panes  long  after 
the  valley  below  slept  in  the  shadows  of  night. 

One  September  evening  two  carriages  toiled 
up  the  steep  winding  road  that  led  to  the  highest 
hamlet  of  the  Rhaetian  Alps,  and  a  girl  walking 
by  the  side  of  the  foremost  driver  (minded,  as  he 
was,  to  save  the  tired  horses)  looked  up  to  see 
Heiligengelt  glittering  like  a  necklet  of  jewels  on 
the  brown  throat  of  the  mountain.  Each  win 
dow  was  a  separate  ruby  set  in  gold;  the 
copper  bulb  that  topped  the  church  steeple  was 
a  burning  carbuncle;  while  above  the  flashing 

24 


INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN    25 

band  of  gems  towered  the  rocky  face  of  the 
mountain,  its  steadfast  features  carved  in  stone, 
its  brow  capped  with  snow  that  caught  the  glow 
of  sunset,  or  lay  in  blue- white  seams  along  the 
wrinkles  of  its  forehead. 

The  driver  had  assured  the  young  English 
lady  that  she  might  remain  in  the  carriage; 
her  weight  would  be  as  nothing  to  the  horses, 
who  were  used  to  carrying  far  heavier  loads  than 
this  of  to-day  up  the  mountain  road  to  Heili- 
gengelt  in  the  summer  season,  when  many 
tourists  came.  But  she  had  insisted  on  walking 
and  the  brown-faced  fellow  with  the  green  hat 
and  curly  cock-feather  liked  her  the  better  for 
her  persistence.  She  was  plainly  dressed,  and 
not  half  as  grand  in  her  appearance  as  some  of 
the  ladies  who  went  up  with  him  in  July  or 
August  to  visit  little  Heiligengelt ;  but,  apart 
from  her  beauty  (which  his  eye  was  not  slow  to 
see),  there  was  something  else  that  captured 
both  admiration  and  respect.  Perhaps,  for  one 
thing,  her  knowledge  of  Rhaetian  —  counted 
by  other  countries  a  difficult  language,  though 
bearing  to  German  a  cousinship  closer  than  that 


26     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

which  Romance  bears  to  Italian --did  much 
to  warm  the  Rhaetian's  heart.  At  all  events, 
without  stopping  to  analyze  his  feeling,  or  grope 
for  its  cause,  the  driver  of  the  first  carriage 
found  himself  bestowing  voluble  confidences 
upon  the  charming  foreigner. 

He  told  her  of  his  life :  how  he  had  not  always 
lived  in  the  valley  and  driven  horses  for  a  living. 
Before  he  took  a  wife,  and  had  a  young  family 
to  rear,  he  had  made  his  home  in  Heiligengelt, 
which  was  his  native  village.  There  his  old 
mother  still  lived  and  kept  the  inn.  He  was 
glad  that  the  ladies  meant  to  stop  with  her  for 
a  few  days;  after  the  season  was  over,  and  the 
strangers  had  all  been  driven  away  by  the  cold 
and  early  flurries  of  snow,  the  poor  mother  grew 
weary  of  idleness  and  longed  for  the  sight  of  new 
faces.  There  were  not  many  neighbours  in  Heili 
gengelt.  She  would  be  pleased  to  see  the  Eng 
lish  ladies,  and  would  do  her  best  to  make  them 
comfortable,  though  it  was  not  often  that  stran 
gers  came  so  late  in  the  year.  The  mother 
would  be  surprised  as  well  as  rejoiced  at  the  sight 
of  the  Herrschaft,  since  it  seemed  that  they  had 


INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN    27 

not  written  in  advance.  Still,  they  need  not 
fear  that  her  surprise  would  interfere  with  then- 
welfare.  Those  who  knew  Frau  Johann  knew 
that  her  floors  ever  shone  like  wax,  that  her 
cupboard  was  never  empty,  that  her  linen  was 
aired  and  scented  like  the  new-mown  hay.  It 
was  but  justice  to  say  this,  although  she  was  his 
mother.  And  besides,  she  had  need  always  to 
be  in  readiness  for  distinguished  guests,  because 
—  but  the  eloquent  tongue  of  Alois  Johann  was 
suddenly  silenced  like  the  clapper  of  a  bell 
which  the  ringer  has  ceased  to  pull,  and  his 
sunburnt  face  grew  sheepish. 

"Because  of  what?"  urged  his  companion. 

Alois  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  laughed. 
"I  was  going  to  say  a  thing  which  I  had  no 
business  to  say,"  he  confessed.  :<  We  men  sneer 
at  our  women  because  they  keep  no  secrets,  yet 
sometimes  we  find  ourselves  near  to  the  same 
foolishness.  I  must  take  care,  and  beg  that  the 
noble  lady  will  not  embarrass  me  with  ques 
tions." 

The  noble  lady  obediently  held  her  tongue, 
yet  there  was  a  twinkle  under  her  long,  downcast 


28     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

lashes,  which  might  in  turn  have  aroused  Alois's 
curiosity  if  he  had  seen. 

Slowly  they  climbed  on;  the  two  carriages, 
with  the  noble  lady's  noble  mother,  the  middle- 
aged  companion,  the  French  maid,  and  the 
modest  supply  of  luggage,  toiling  up  behind. 

At  last  they  reached  the  inn  with  the  steeply 
pointed  roof  of  gray  shingles  and  the  big  picture 
of  Heiligengelt's  patron  saint  portrayed  in  bright 
colours  on  the  white  house-wall.  A  character 
istic  call  from  Alois,  sent  forth  before  the  highest 
plateau  was  reached,  brought  an  apple-cheeked 
old  dame  to  the  front  door;  and  it  was  the 
youngest  of  the  travellers  who  asked,  with  a 
pleasant  greeting,  for  the  best  suite  of  rooms  that 
Frau  Johann  could  provide. 

The  Rhaetian  woman  and  her  son  exchanged 
a  glance  which  mirrored  mystery.  Then  Frau 
Johann  regretted  that  her  best  rooms  were 
already  occupied  by  four  gentlemen  who  came 
each  year  at  this  season  to  spend  a  week  or  ten 
days.  They  had  the  bedchambers  commanding 
the  finest  view,  and  the  only  private  sitting-room 
in  the  house;  but  there  were  other  good  rooms 


INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN         29 

in  plenty,  and  one  of  these  could  easily  be  trans 
formed  into  a  sitting-room,  if  the  ladies  desired. 

An  hour  later,  when  the  newcomers,  mother, 
daughter,  and  companion,  sat  down  to  a  hot 
supper  in  a  room  rendered  hastily  habitable  for 
dining,  the  youngest  of  the  three  remarked  to 
Frau  Johann  upon  the  peaceful  stillness  of  her 
house. 

"One  would  think  that  there  was  not  a  soul 
in  the  place  save  ourselves,"  she  said.  'Yet  we 
are  not  your  only  guests,  we  know." 

"The  gentlemen  who  are  stopping  with  me  are 
away  all  day  on  the  mountains,"  explained  Frau 
Johann.  "It  is  now  the  season  for  chamois- 
hunting,  and  it  is  for  that  sport  and  also  some 
good  climbing,  only  to  be  done  by  experts,  that 
they  come  to  me.  To-night  they  do  not  return, 
but  stop  at  —  at  a  hut  they  have  near  the  top  of 
the  Weisshorn,  to  begin  work  in  the  morning 
earlier  than  would  be  possible  if  they  slept 
in  the  village.  That,  indeed,  is  their  constant 
custom." 

"Then  they  are  rather  selfish  to  keep  your 
only  sitting-room,  since  they  can  make  but  little 


30     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

use  of  it,"  said  the  girl.  "And  so  I  should  like 
to  hint,  if  I  happened  to  meet  them." 

"May  heaven  forbid!"  hastily  ejaculated 
Frau  Johann,  almost  dropping  the  plate  of  eggs 
with  minced  veal  which  she  was  carrying. 

"Why  not,  then  ?"  laughed  the  young  English 
lady,  who  was  the  most  beautiful  creature  the 
Rhaetian  woman  had  looked  upon  for  many  a 
long  day.  "Are  these  gentlemen-hunters  per 
sons  of  great  importance,  that  they  must  not  be 
told  the  truth  about  themselves  by  those  they 
have  inconvenienced  in  their  thoughtlessness?" 

For  an  instant  Frau  Johann  was  dumb,  as  one 
who  searches  for  an  answer  not  easily  to  be  found. 
"The  gentlemen  are  good  patrons  of  mine; 
therefore  they  are  important  to  me,  gracious 
Fraulein,"  she  at  last  replied.  "I  should  not 
like  their  feelings  to  be  hurt." 

"I  was  only  joking,"  the  girl  assured  her. 
"  We  are  satisfied  with  this  room,  which  you  have 
made  so  pleasant  for  us.  All  I  care  for  is  that 
the  mountains  be  not  private.  I  may  climb  as 
much  as  I  like  —  I  and  my  friend,  Miss  Collinson 
who  is  a  daring  mountaineer"  (with  this,  she 


INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN        31 

cast  a  glance  at  the  companion,  who  visibly 
started  in  response,  perhaps  at  the  revelation  of 
her  skill) ;  "for  I  suppose  that  your  other  guests 
have  not  engaged  the  whole  Weisshorn  for 
their  own  ?" 

The  landlady's  smile  returned.  "No,  gracious 
Fraulein;  you  are  free  to  wander  as  you  will; 
but  take  care  that  you  do  not  attempt  feats  of 
too  great  difficulty,  and  take  care  also  that  you 
are  not  mistaken  for  a  chamois,  to  be  shot." 

"Even  our  prowess  as  climbers  will  hardly 
entitle  us  to  such  a  distinction,"  replied  the 
youngest  of  the  ladies,  who  seemed  so  much 
more  inclined  toward  general  conversation  than 
the  others.  "But  wake  us  early  to-morrow. 
We  should  like  to  have  breakfasted  and  be  out  by 
half-past  seven." 

"And  will  you  take  a  guide,  gracious  Fraulein  ? 
I  can  engage  a  good  one  if  you  wish  to  try  some 
of  the  famous  climbs." 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  the  girl.  "We  have 
our  Baedeker  and  will  only  attempt  such  places 
as  he  pronounces  safe  for  amateurs.  There's  an 
easy  way  to  the  top,  we've  read,  and  if  to-morrow 


82     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

be  fine  we  may  undertake  it.  But  what  an 
excellent  engraving  you  have  over  the  fireplace, 
with  the  chamois  horns  above  it!  Isn't  that  a 
portrait  of  your  Emperor?" 

Frau  Johann's  eyes  darted  to  the  picture. 
"Ach!  I  meant  to  have  had  it  carried  away," 
she  muttered. 

The  girl  caught  the  words.  "  Why  should  it  be 
carried  away?  Don't  you  love  the  Emperor, 
that  you  would  have  his  face  put  out  of  sight?" 

"Not  love  unser  Max?"  The  exclamation 
came  quick  and  indignant.  "We  worship  him, 
gracious  Fraulein;  we  would  die  for  him  any 
day,  and  think  ourselves  blessed  with  the  chance. 
Oh,  I  would  not  let  you  go  back  to  your  own 
country  with  the  thought  that  we  do  not  love  the 
best  Kaiser  a  country  ever  had.  As  for  the  por 
trait,  I  did  not  know  I  spoke  aloud;  that  some 
times  happens  to  me,  since  I  grow  deaf  and  old. 
But  I  only  wished  it  put  away  because  it  is  so 
poor,  it  does  unser  Max  (that  is  what  he  is  pleased 
to  have  us  call  him)  no  justice.  You  —  you 
would  not  recognize  him  from  that  picture.  The 
Kaiser  is  a  very  different-looking  man." 


INADVERTENCE  OF  FRAU  JOHANN        33 

With  this,  Frau  Johann  went  out  to  fetch 
another  dish,  which  was  ready  in  the  kitchen, 
to  cool  her  hot  face,  and  to  scold  herself  for  an 
old  dummkopf,  all  the  way  downstairs. 

In  the  bedchamber  which  had  so  recently 
been  turned  into  a  dining-drawing-room,  the 
young  lady  took  advantage  of  the  landlady's 
temporary  absence  to  indulge  in  long-stifled 
laughter. 

"Poor,  transparent  old  dear!"  she  exclaimed. 
"I'm  sure  she  doesn't  dream  that  one  reads  her 
like  a  book.  She  is  in  a  sad  fright  now,  lest  we 
should  recognize  'unser  Max9  from  his  portrait, 
and  spoil  his  precious  incognito." 

"Then  you  think  that  one  of  the  gentlemen 
really  is  -  '  began  the  Grand  Duchess. 

"  I  am  sure  that  he  is,"  finished  Princess  Sylvia. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  THE  BARE  KNEES 

THIS  is  perfectly  awful! "  groaned  the  unfortu 
nate  lady  who  passed  under  the  name  of 
Miss  Collinson. 

"Perfectly  splendid!9'  corrected  her  com 
panion. 

The  elder  lady  pressed  Baedeker  convulsively 
to  her  bosom,  and  sat  down.  "I  shall  have  to 
stop  here,"  she  gasped,  "all  the  rest  of  my  life, 
and  have  my  meals  and  night  things  sent  up  to 
me.  I'm  very  sorry;  but  I  shall  never  move 
again." 

"Don't  be  absurd,  dear;  we're  absolutely 
safe,"  said  Sylvia.  "I  may  be  a  selfish  little 
wretch,  but  I  wouldn't  for  worlds  have  brought 
you  into  danger.  You've  come  so  far;  surely  you 
can  come  a  little  farther  ?  Baedeker  says  you  can. 
In  ten  minutes  you'll  be  at  the  top." 

"You  might  as  well  say  I'll  be  in  my  grave; 

34 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      35 

it  amounts  to  much  the  same  thing,"  retorted 
Miss  Collinson,  who  was  really  Miss  Jane 
M'Pherson,  and  had  been  Sylvia's  governess. 
"I  can't  look  down;  I  can't  look  up,  because  I 
keep  thinking  of  what's  behind  me.  After  I  get 
my  breath  and  get  used  to  things,  I  may  be 
comparatively  comfortable  here;  but  as  to  stir 
ring,  there's  no  use  thinking  of  it." 

"You'd  make  an  ideal  hermitess,"  said  Sylvia. 
>( You've  the  very  features  for  that  profession; 
austere,  yet  benevolent.  But  you're  not  really 
afraid  now?" 

"Not  sitting  down,"  admitted  Miss  M'Pher 
son,  gradually  regaining  her  accustomed  calm. 
"Do  you  think  you'd  be  afraid,  and  lose  your 
head  or  anything,  if  I  just  strolled  on  to  the  top 
for  the  view,  and  came  back  to  you  in  about  half 
an  hour?" 

"No  —  o,"  said  the  governess.  "I  may  as 
well  accustom  myself  to  loneliness,  since  I  am 
obliged  to  spend  my  remaining  years  on  this 
spot.  But  I'm  not  at  all  sure  that  the  Grand 
Duchess  would  approve  - 

"You  mean  Lady  de  Courcy.     She  wouldn't 


36     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

mind.  She  knows  I  have  a  steady  head,  and — 
physically  —  a  good  heart.  Besides,  I  shall 
have  only  myself  to  look  after;  and  one  doesn't 
need  a  chaperon  for  a  morning  call  on  a  mount 


ain  view." 


"  I'm  not  so  certain  about  this  mountain  view ! " 
'You're  very  subtle.  But  I  really  haven't 
come  out  to  look  for  him  this  morning.  There's 
plenty  of  time  for  that  by  and  by." 

"Dear  Princess,  don't  speak  as  if  you  could 
possibly  do  such  a  thing  at  any  time." 

"Miss  de  Courcy,  please!  Why  do  you  sup 
pose  we  are  all  in  das  Land  im  Gebirge,  if  not 
to  pursue  a  certain  imperial  eagle  to  his  eyrie, 
where  he  masquerades  as  a  common  bird  ?" 

"Ah,  my  dear,  don't  demean  yourself,  even  to 
me,  who  know  you  so  well.  You  are  here  not 
to  pursue,  but  to  give  an  Emperor  who  wants  a 
Princess  for  his  consort  a  chance  to  fall  in  love 
with  herself." 

"  If  he  will !  But  what  do  Mary  de  Courcy  and 
Jane  Collinson  know  about  the  affairs  of 
emperors  and  princesses?  An  revoir,  dear 
friend.  Presently,  if  you  find  the  courage  to 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      37 

look,  you  will  see  me  waving  a  handkerchief- 
flag  at  the  top." 

Sylvia  took  up  her  alpenstock  and  pushed  on. 
There  was  a  route  to  the  highest  peak  of  the 
Weisshorn  only  to  be  attacked  by  experienced 
climbers ;  but  the  path  along  which  she  and  Miss 
M'Pherson  had  set  out  from  Heiligengelt  four 
hours  ago  was  merely  tedious,  never  dangerous. 
Sylvia  knew  that  her  governess  was  safe  and  not 
half  as  much  frightened  by  the  unaccustomed 
height  as  she  pretended. 

They  had  started  at  half-past  seven,  just  as  a 
September  sun  was  beginning  to  draw  the  night 
chill  out  of  the  keen  mountain  air;  and  it  was 
now  nearly  twelve.  Sylvia  was  hungry. 

In  Wandeck,  the  second  largest  town  of 
Rhaetia,  she  had  bought  rucksacks  for  herself 
and  Miss  M'Pherson;  and  to-day  these  acquisi 
tions  were  being  tested  for  the  first  time.  Each 
bag  stored  an  abundant  luncheon  for  its  bearer 
while  on  top,  secured  by  straps  passed  across 
the  shoulders,  reposed  a  wrap  to  be  used  in  rain 
or  rest  after  violent  exercise.  Sylvia's  rucksack 
grew  heavy  as  she  ascended,  though  at  first  its 


38     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

weight  had  seemed  insignificant;  and  spying  at 
a  distance  a  green  plateau  on  the  mountain 
side,  it  occurred  to  her  that  it  might  be  well  to 
lighten  the  load  and  satisfy  her  appetite  at  the 
same  time. 

"That  good  M'Pherson  is  quite  happy  with 
Baedeker  and  won't  be  vexed  if  I  am  gone  a 
little  longer  than  I  said,"  she  assured  herself. 
There  was  no  gracious  plateau  at  the  top  of  the 
Weisshorn;  only  a  sterile  heap  of  rocks  on  which 
to  stand  for  self-gratulation  or  incidentally  to 
admire  the  view,  and  there  was,  besides,  enough 
difficulty  in  reaching  this  lower  point  of  vantage 
to  make  the  venture  attractive.  The  path  zig 
zagged  up,  a  mere  scratch  on  the  face  of  the 
mountain;  but  the  plateau,  like  a  terrace  laid 
out  upon  a  buttress,  could  be  gained  only  by 
scrambling  over  rough  rocks  and  climbing  in 
good  earnest  here  and  there.  Beyond  the  visible 
strip  of  green,  the  natural  terrace  stretched  away 
into  mystery  round  the  corner  like  the  end  of  a 
picture  in  perspective. 

Sylvia  calculated  the  effort  and  decided  that 
she  was  equal  to  it;  but  before  she  had  gone  half* 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      39 

way,  she  would  gladly  have  stood  once  more  on 
the  path  worn  by  the  feet  of  less  ambitious 
travellers.  She  even  felt  a  certain  sympathy  with 
the  sentiments  Miss  M'Pherson  had  expressed; 
yet  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  go  on.  It 
would  be  worse  to  turn  than  to  proceed.  Her 
cheeks  began  to  burn,  and  her  heart  to  tap  a 
warning  against  her  side.  How  huge  a  giant 
was  this  mountain  -  -  towering  above  her,  falling 
sheer  away  beneath  her  feet,  down  there  where 
she  did  not  care  to  look  —  how  pitifully  insignifi 
cant  she! 

But  there  was  the  plateau,  bathed  in  sunshine 
like  the  Promised  Land.  And  to  her  ears  was 
wafted  therefrom  the  sound  of  a  man's  voice, 
cheerily,  melodiously  jodelling. 

"What  if  it  should  be  he?"  thought  Sylvia. 
She  had  come  all  the  way  from  England  to  meet 
him,  and  it  was  hard  that  he  should  jodel  while 
she  perished.  Much  good  would  it  do  her  if 
her  spirit  beheld  him  bending  over  her  crushed 
material  remains. 

Still  the  voice  of  the  invisible  one  jodelled  on. 

"Help!"  Sylvia  added  an  impromptu  to  the 


40     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

chorus.  "He  may  as  well  save  me,  be  he 
emperor  or  tourist.  Oh,  I  hope  this  isn't  a 
lesson  not  to  climb  too  high.  Ought  I  to  call  for 
help  in  Rhaetian  or  English?  I'll  try  both,  to 
make  quite  sure." 

She  did  try  both,  with  the  result  that  the 
jodelling  suddenly  stopped.  Instead,  an  iron- 
shod  boot  rang  against  a  rock.  Forgetting  fear 
in  desire  to  know  whether  the  actor  now  to 
appear  for  the  first  time  on  her  life's  stage  would 
be  hero  or  super,  her  foot  slipped  from  its  scanty 
hold.  Stumbling,  she  slid  from  the  rocky  ledge 
down  to  the  plateau,  finally  landing  on  her  knees 
at  the  feet  of  a  young  man  who  strode  hastily 
round  the  corner. 

"Himmel!"  exclaimed  a  voice,  half  laughing, 
half  startled.  She  dared  not  look  up,  lest  she 
should  meet  disappointment.  Would  it  be  he, 
sent  to  her  by  Destiny,  or  some  tourist,  sent  by 
Cook? 

One  who  knew  Maximilian's  habits  well  (the 
only  one,  besides  her  mother,  wholly  taken  into 
confidence)  had  told  her  that  to  find  him  as  a 
man,  and  not  an  emperor,  she  should  make  her 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      41 

pilgrimage  to  Heiligengelt  in  the  chamois-hunt 
ing  season.  She  had  remembered  this  hint. 
She  had  come;  was  she  now  about  to  see? 

Two  brown  hands  were  held  out  to  help  her. 
Slowly  she  raised  her  eyes.  They  travelled  up 
and  up.  Beginning  with  a  pair  of  big  nailed 
boots,  they  glided  over  the  knitted  detail  of 
woollen  stockings,  and  were  stopped  for  an 
instant  at  an  unexpected  obstacle  in  the  shape  of 
bare,  muscular  brown  knees.  (Thank  goodness, 
at  least  Fate  had  spared  her  a  tourist!)  Short, 
shabby  trousers;  a  gray  coat,  passemoiled  with 
green,  from  one  pocket  of  which  protruded  a  great 
hunch  of  bread  and  ham,  evidently  just  thrust 
in;  broad  shoulders;  a  throat  like  a  column  of 
bronze;  a  face  —  the  blood  leaped  in  Sylvia's 
veins  and  sang  in  her  ears.  It  was  he  —  it  was 
he !  Here  was  the  eyrie :  the  eagle  was  at  home. 

All  her  life  had  but  led  up  to  this  moment. 
Under  the  soft  hat  of  green  felt,  adorned  with 
the  beard  of  a  chamois,  was  the  face  she  had 
dreamed  of  by  night  and  day.  A  dark,  austere 
face,  with  more  of  Mars  than  Apollo  in  its  lines, 
but  to  her  worth  all  the  ideals  of  all  the  sculptors 


42     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

in  the  world.  He  was  dressed  as  a  chamois- 
hunter,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  well-worn 
costume  to  distinguish  the  wearer  from  the  type 
he  represented;  but  as  easily  might  the  eagle  to 
whom  she  likened  him  try  to  pass  for  a  barnyard 
fowl  as  this  man  for  a  peasant  —  so  Sylvia 
thought. 

She  hoped  that  he  did  not  feel  the  beating  in 
her  fingers-ends  as  he  caught  her  hands,  lifted 
and  set  her  on  her  feet.  There  was  humiliation 
in  this  tempest  of  her  pulses,  knowing  that  he  did 
not  share  it.  To  her,  this  meeting  was  an 
epoch:  to  him,  a  trivial  incident.  She  would 
have  keyed  his  emotion  to  hers,  if  she  could,  but 
since  she  had  had  years  of  preparation,  he  a 
single  moment,  perhaps  she  might  have  rested 
satisfied  with  the  expression  in  his  eyes. 

It  said,  had  she  been  calm  enough  to  read 
it:  "Is  heaven  raining  goddesses  to-day  ?J> 

Now,  what  was  she  to  say  to  him  ?  How  make 
the  most  of  this  wonderful  chance  that  had  come, 
to  know  the  man  and  not  the  Emperor  ?  Each 
word  should  be  chosen,  like  a  bit  of  mosaic  that 
fits  into  a  complicated  pattern.  She  should 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      43 

marshal  her  sentences  as  a  general  marshals  his 
battalions,  with  a  plan  of  campaign  for  each  one. 
A  spirit-monitor  (a  match-making  monitor) 
seemed  to  whisper  these  advices  in  her  ear;  yet 
she  was  powerless  to  heed  them.  Like  a  school 
girl  about  to  be  examined  for  a  scholarship, 
knowing  that  all  the  future  might  depend  upon  a 
single  hour,  the  need  to  be  resourceful  left  her 
dumb.  How  many  times  had  she  not  planned 
her  first  conversation  with  Maximilian,  the  first 
words  she  should  speak  to  rivet  his  attention,  to 
make  him  feel  that  she  was  subtly  different 
from  any  woman  he  had  ever  known  ?  But 
now,  epigrams  turned  tail  and  raced  away 
from  her  like  playful  colts  refusing  to  be  caught. 

"I  hope  you  are  not  hurt  ? "  asked  the  chamois- 
hunter,  in  the  patois  dear  to  the  mountain-folk  of 
Rhaetia. 

Here  was  a  comfort;  at  least  she  was  not  to 
have  the  responsibility  of  playing  the  first  card. 
Meekly  she  followed  his  lead. 

"Only  in  the  pride  that  comes  before  a  fall," 
she  answered,  in  the  tongue  she  had  delighted 
to  learn,  because  it  was  her  hero's.  "There 


44     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

should  be  a  sign  between  the  path  and  this 
plateau:  'All  save  suicides  should  beware." 

"We  have  never  thought  of  the  necessity,  my 
mates  and  I,"  said  the  man  in  the  gray  coat 
passemoiled  with  green.  "Until  you  came,  gna9 
Fraulein,  no  tourist  has  cared  to  run  the  risk." 

Sylvia's  eyes  lit  suddenly  with  a  sapphire 
spark.  The  spirit  of  mischief  nipped  her 
beating  heart  between  rosy  thumb  and  finger, 
daring  her  to  a  frolic  —  such  a  frolic  as  no  girl 
on  earth  had  ever  had.  And  she  would  show  this 
grave,  austere,  self-centred  young  hero  a  phase 
of  life  he  had  not  seen  before.  Then,  let  come 
what  would  out  of  this  adventure,  at  least  she 
should  have  an  Olympian  episode  to  remember. 

"Until  I  came?"  She  caught  up  the  words, 
standing  before  him  on  the  spot  where  he  had 
placed  her.  "But  I  am  no  tourist;  I  am  an 
explorer." 

He  raised  level,  dark  eyebrows;  and  when  he 
smiled  half  his  austerity  was  gone.  So  beautiful 
a  girl  need  be  no  more  than  commonplace  of 
thought  and  speech;  indeed,  the  hunter  of 
chamois  expected  little  else  from  women.  Yet 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      45 

this  one  bade  fair  to  have  surprises  in  reserve. 
He  had  brought  down  marvellous  game  to-day, 
such  as  no  hunter  before  him  had  ever  found 
upon  the  mountain-side. 

"I  know  the  Weisshorn  well,"  said  he,  "and 
love  it;  but  I  cannot  see  how  it  rewards  the  ex 
plorer — unless  you  are  a  climber  or  a  geologist." 

"I  am  neither;  but  I  came  in  search  of  some 
thing  that  I  have  wanted  all  my  life  to  see," 
replied  the  girl. 

His  face  confessed  curiosity.  "Might  one  ask 
the  name  of  the  rare  thing  ?  Perhaps  one  might 
help  in  the  search." 

"I  feel  sure,"  replied  Sylvia  graciously,  "that 
you  could  help  me,  if  you  would,  as  well  as 
any  one  on  earth." 

"That  is  good  hearing,  lady,  though  I  know 
not  yet  how  I  have  deserved  the  compliment. 
First  I  must  hear  what  you  seek,  and  then  - 

"I  seek  a  rare  plant,  that  grows  only  in  high, 
places.     It  is  said  to  be  found  here  at  certain 
seasons ;  though  I  have  never  met  any  one  who 
can  boast  of  plucking  it.     I  would  that  I  could 
be  the  first." 


46     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"  Is  it  the  Edelweiss,  gna'  Fraulein.  Because, 
if  so,  I  know  where  to  take  you." 

She  shook  her  head.  "The  botanical  name 
is  very  hard  to  pronounce.  But  it  is  sometimes 
called  by  common  people  Edelmann.  I  should  be 
disappointed  to  go  away  without  a  sight  of  it  — 
though  I  was  warned  it  would  not  be  wise  to 


come." 


"Those  were  wise  who  warned  you,  lady.  I 
know  of  no  such  plant  as  that  you  mention.  If 
it  were  here,  I  must  have  seen  it.  The  chance 
was  not  worth  the  danger  you  have  run." 

"Oh,  yes,  the  chance  was  worth  the  danger. 
You  —  a  chamois-hunter  —  to  say  that !  You 
must  run  a  thousand  risks  a  day  in  seeking  what 
you  want." 

"But  I  am  a  man.  You  are  a  woman;  and 
women  should  keep  to  beaten  paths  and  safety." 

"I  wonder,  is  that  the  theory  of  all  Rhaetians  ? 
I  know  your  Emperor  holds  it." 

"Who  told  you  that,  gna9  Fraulein."  He 
gave  her  a  sharp  look;  but  her  violet  eyes 
were  innocent  of  guile,  as  the  flowers  they 
resembled. 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      47 

"Oh,  many  people.  We  hear  much  of  him 
in  England." 

"Good  things  or  bad?" 

"The  things  that  he  deserves.  Now,  can  you 
guess  which?  But  I  could  tell  you  more  if  I 
were  not  so  very,  very  hungry.  I  can't  help 
seeing  your  luncheon,  thrust  into  your  pocket, 
perhaps,  when  you  came  to  help  me.  Do 
you  want  it  all"  (she  carefully  ignored  the 
contents  of  her  rucksack),  "or  —  would  you 
share  it?" 

The  chamois-hunter  looked  surprised.  But 
then  this  was  his  first  experience  of  a  feminine 
explorer,  and  he  quickly  rose  to  the  occasion. 

"There  is  more  bread  and  ham  where  this 
came  from,"  he  replied,  with  flattering  alacrity. 
"Will  you  be  graciously  pleased  to  accept  some 
thing  of  our  best?" 

"If  you  please,  then  I  shall  be  much  pleased," 
she  responded.  Miss  M'Pherson  was  forgotten. 

rtunately  the  deserted  lady  was  supplied  with 
genial  literature,  down  below. 

"I  and  some  friends  of  mine  have  a  sort  of  - 
hut  round  the  corner,"  announced  the  chamois- 


48    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

hunter,  with  a  gesture  that  indicated  direction. 
"No  woman  has  ever  been  our  guest  there, 
but  I  invite  you  to  come,  if  you  will.  Or,  if  you 
prefer,  remain  here,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I  will 
bring  you  such  food  as  we  have.  At  best  it  is  not 
much  to  boast  of.  We  chamois-hunters  are 
poor  men,  living  roughly." 

Sylvia  smiled,  and  imprisoned  each  new 
thought  of  mischief  like  a  trapped  bird.  "I've 
heard  you're  rich  in  hospitality,"  she  said. 
"Now  is  my  chance  to  prove  the  story." 

The  eyes  of  the  hunter,  dark,  brilliant,  and 
keen  as  an  eagle's,  pierced  hers.  "You  have  no 
fear?"  he  said.  'You  are  a  woman,  alone, 
in  a  desolate  place.  For  what  you  know,  my 
mates  and  I  may  be  a  set  of  brigands." 

"Baedeker  does  not  mention  the  existence  of 
brigands  at  present  in  the  Rhaetian  Alps," 
retorted  Sylvia,  with  quaint  dryness.  "I  have 
always  found  him  very  trustworthy.  I've  great 
faith  in  the  chivalry  of  Rhaetian  men,  whose 
Emperor  —  though  he  thinks  meanly  of  women 
-  sets  so  good  an  example.  But  if  you  knew 
how  hungry  I  am,  you  would  not  keep  me  waiting 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      49 

for  talk  of  brigands.  Bread  and  butter  is  far 
more  to  the  point." 

"Even  search  for  the  Edelmann  may  wait  ?" 

"Yes;  the  Edelmann  may  wait  —  on  me." 
(The  last  two  words  were  added  in  whisper.) 

"You  must  pardon  my  going  first,"  said  the 
young  man  with  the  bare  knees.  "The  way 
here  is  too  narrow  for  politeness." 

"Yet  I  wish  that  our  peasants  at  home  had 
such  courteous  manners  as  yours,"  Sylvia  patron 
ized  him.  'You  Rhaetians  need  not  go  to 
Court,  I  see,  for  rules  of  behaviour." 

"The  mountains  teach  us  some  thing,  maybe." 

"  Something  of  their  greatness,  which  we  should 
all  do  well  to  learn.  But  have  you  never  lived 
in  a  town?" 

"A  man  of  my  sort  exists  in  a  town;  he  lives 
in  the  mountains."  With  this  diplomatic 
answer  the  tall  figure  swung  round  a  corner 
formed  by  a  boulder,  and  Sylvia  uttered  an 
exclamation  of  surprise.  The  "hut"  of  which 
the  chamois-hunter  had  spoken  was  revealed  by 
the  turn,  and  it  was  of  an  original  and  picturesque 
description.  Instead  of  the  humble  erection  of 


50     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

stones  and  wood  which  she  had  expected,  the 
rocky  side  of  the  mountain  had  been  utilized  to 
afford  her  sons  a  shelter. 

A  doorway,  and  large  square  panes  for  win 
dows,  had  been  made  in  the  red-veined,  purplish- 
brown  porphyry;  while  a  heavy  slab  of  oak 
(now  standing  ajar),  and  wooden  frames,  glitter 
ing  with  jewel-like  bottle-glass,  protected  the 
rooms  within  from  storm  or  cold. 

Even  had  the  Princess  been  ignorant  of  her 
host's  identity  she  would  have  been  wise  enough 
to  know  that  this  was  no  Sennhutte,  or  common 
abode  of  peasants  who  hunt  the  chamois  for  a  pre 
carious  living.  The  work  of  hewing  out  in  the  solid 
rock  such  a  habitation  as  this  must  alone  have 
cost  more  than  most  chamois-hunters  could  save 
in  a  lifetime;  but  after  her  first  ejaculation  she  ex 
pressed  no  further  amazement,  only  admiration. 

The  man  stood  aside  that  she  might  pass  into 
the  outer  room,  and,  though  she  was  not  invited 
to  further  exploration,  she  could  see  by  the 
several  doors  cut  in  the  walls  that  this  was  not 
the  sole  accommodation  which  the  curious  house 
could  boast. 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      51 

On  the  stone  floor  rugs  of  deer  and  chamois 
skin  were  spread;  in  a  rack  of  oak,  ornamented 
with  splendid  antlers  and  studded  with  the  sharp, 
pointed  horns  of  the  chamois,  were  suspended 
guns  of  modern  make  and  brightly  polished 
knives.  The  table  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
had  been  carved  with  exceeding  skill;  and  the 
half-dozen  chairs  were  oddly  fashioned  of  stags' 
antlers,  formed  to  hold  fur-cushioned,  wooden 
seats.  A  carved  dresser  of  black  oak  held  a 
store  of  the  brightly  coloured  china  made  by 
the  peasants  in  the  valley  below,  eked  out  with 
platters  and  tankards  of  old  pewter;  and  in  the 
great  fireplace  a  gipsy  kettle  was  suspended  over 
a  red  bed  of  fragrant  pine-wood  embers. 

"This  is  a  place  fit  for  a  king  —  or  even  an 
emperor,"  Sylvia  said,  with  demure  graciousness, 
when  the  bare-kneed  young  man  had  offered  her 
a  seat  and  crossed  the  room  to  open  the  closed 
cupboard  under  the  dresser.  He  was  stooping 
as  she  spoke,  but  at  her  last  words  looked  quickly 
round  over  his  shoulder. 

"We  peasants  are  not  afraid  of  a  little  work 
when  it  is  for  our  own  comfort,"  he  responded, 


52     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"And  most  of  the  things  you  see  are  home 
made  during  the  long  winters." 

"Then  you  are  all  very  clever.  But,  tell  me, 
has  the  Emperor  ever  been  your  guest  ?  I  have 
read  —  let  me  see,  could  it  have  been  in  a 
guide-book,  or  perhaps  in  some  society  paper? 
—  that  he  comes  occasionally  to  the  moun 
tains  here." 

"Oh  yes;  the  Kaiser  has  been  at  this  hut  — 
once,  twice,  perhaps."  Her  host  laid  a  loaf  of 
black  bread,  a  cut  cheese,  and  a  knuckle  of  ham 
on  the  table.  He  then  glanced  at  his  guest, 
expecting  her  to  come  forward;  but  she  sat  still 
on  her  throne  of  antlers,  her  little  feet  in  their 
strong  mountain  boots,  daintily  crossed  under  the 
short  tweed  skirt. 

"I  hear  your  Kaiser  is  a  good  chamois- 
hunter,"  she  leisurely  remarked.  "But  that, 
perhaps,  is  only  the  flattery  which  makes  the 
atmosphere  of  kings.  No  doubt,  you  could  give 
him  many  points  in  chamois-hunting?" 

The  young  man  smiled.  "The  Emperor  is 
not  a  bad  shot,"  he  returned. 

"For  an  amateur.     But  you  are  a  professional. 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      53 

I  wager  now  that  you  would  not  change  places 
with  the  Emperor?" 

How  the  chamois-hunter  laughed  and  showed 
his  white  teeth!  There  were  those  in  the  towns 
he  scorned,  who  would  have  been  astonished  at 
his  levity. 

"Change  places  with  the  Emperor?     Not - 
unless  I  were  obliged,  gna9  Fraulein.     Not  now, 
at  all  events,"  with  a  meaning  bow  and  glance. 

"Thank  you.  You  are  quite  a  courtier. 
One  of  the  things  they  say  of  him  in  England  is 
that  he  dislikes  women.  But  perhaps  he  does 
not  understand  them  ?" 

"Indeed,  lady?  I  had  not  heard  that  they 
were  so  difficult  of  comprehension." 

"Ah,  that  shows  how  little  you  chamois- 
hunters  know  them.  Why,  we  can't  even  under 
stand  ourselves !  Though  —  a  very  odd  thing  — 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  reading  one  another, 
and  knowing  all  each  other's  faults." 

"That  would  seem  to  say  a  man  should  get 
a  woman  to  choose  his  wife  for  him." 

"I'm  not  so  sure.  Yet  the  Emperor,  we  hear, 
will  let  his  Chancellor  choose  his." 


54     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"Ah!     Were  you  told  this  also  in  England?" 

:<  Yes.  For  the  gossip  is  that  she's  an  English 
Princess.  Now,  what  is  the  good  of  being  an 
Emperor  if  he  can't  even  pick  out  a  wife  to  please 
himself?" 

"I  know  little  about  such  high  matters,  gna9 
Fraulein.  But  I  fancied  that  Royal  folk  chose 
wives  to  please  the  people  rather  than  themselves. 
If  the  lady  be  of  good  blood,  virtuous,  of  the 
right  religion,  and  pleasant  to  look  at,  why  — 
those  are  the  principal  things,  I  suppose." 

"So  should  I  not  suppose,  if  I  were  a  man  — 
and  an  emperor.  I  should  want  to  fall  in  love." 

"Safer  not;  he  might  fall  in  love  with  the  wrong 
woman."  And  the  chamois-hunter  looked  with  a 
certain  intentness  into  his  guest's  deep  eyes. 

She  flushed  under  the  gaze,  and  answered  at 
random,  "I  doubt  it  he  could  fall  in  love.  A  man 
who  would  let  his  Chancellor  choose!  He  can 
have  no  heart  at  all." 

"He  has  perhaps  found  other  things  more 
important  in  life  than  women." 

"Chamois,  for  instance.  You  would  sympa 
thize  there." 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      55 

"Chamois  give  good  sport.  They  are  hard  to 
find;  hard  to  hit  when  you  have  found  them." 

"So  are  the  best  types  of  women.  Those  who, 
like  the  chamois  (and  the  plant  I  spoke  of),  live 
only  in  high  places.  Oh,  for  the  sake  of  my  sex, 
I  hope  that  one  day  your  Emperor  will  be  forced 
to  change  his  mind  —  that  a  woman  will  make 
him  change  it!" 

"Perhaps  a  woman  has  —  already." 

Sylvia  grew  pale.  Was  she  too  late  ?  Or  was 
this  a  hidden  compliment  which  the  chamois- 
hunter  did  not  guess  she  had  the  clue  to  under 
stand  ?  She  could  not  answer.  The  silence 
grew  electrical,  and  he  broke  it  with  some  slight 
confusion.  "It  is  a  pity  the  Kaiser  cannot  hear 
you.  He  might  be  converted  to  your  more 
English  views." 

"Or  he  might  clap  me  into  prison  for  lese- 
majeste." 

"He  would  not  do  that,  gnrf  Frdulein  —  if 
he's  anything  like  me." 

"Which  is  just  what  he  is  —  in  appearance,  I 
mean,  judging  by  his  pictures." 

"You  have  seen  his  pictures?" 


56     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"Oh,  yes — you  are  really  rather  like  him,  only 
browner  and  bigger,  perhaps.  Yet  I  am  glad 
that  you  are  a  chamois-hunter  and  not  an 
emperor  —  as  glad  as  you  can  be." 

"Will  you  tell  me  why,  lady?" 

"Oh,  for  one  reason  because  I  could  not  ask 
him  to  do  what  I'm  going  to  ask  of  you.  You 
have  laid  the  bread  and  ham  ready,  but  you 
forgot  to  cut  it." 

"A  thousand  pardons.  Our  conversation  has 
sent  my  wits  wool-gathering.  My  mind  should 
have  been  on  my  manners,  instead  of  such  far-off 
things  as  emperors."  He  began  hewing  at  the 
black  loaf  as  if  it  were  an  enemy  to  be  conquered. 
And  there  were  few  in  Rhaetia  who  had  ever 
seen  those  dark  eyes  so  bright. 

"I  like  ham  and  bread  cut  thin,  if  you  please," 
said  Sylvia.  "There  —  that  is  better.  I  will  sit 
here,  if  you  will  bring  the  things  to  me.  You 
are  very  kind  —  and  I  find  that  I  am  tired." 

"A  draught  of  our  Rhaetian  beer  will  put 
better  heart  into  you,  it  may  be,"  suggested  the 
hunter,  taking  up  the  plate  of  bread  and  meat  he 
had  cut,  placing  it  in  her  hand,  and  returning  to 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      57 

draw  a  tankard  of  foaming  amber  liquid  from 
a  quaint  hogshead  in  a  corner. 

But  Sylvia  waved  the  krug  away  with  a  smile 
and  a  pretty  gesture.  "My  head  has  proved  to 
be  not  strong  enough  for  your  mountains;  I'm 
sure  it  isn't  strong  enough  for  your  beer.  Have 
you  some  cold  water?" 

The  hunter  of  chamois  laughed  and  shrugged 
his  shoulders.  "  Our  water  here  is  fit  only  for  the 
outside  of  the  body,"  he  explained.  "To  us,  that 
is  no  deprivation,  as  we  are  true  Rhaetians  for 
our  beer.  But  on  your  account  I  am  sorry." 

"Perhaps  you  have  milk?"  asked  Sylvia.  "I 
could  scarcely  count  the  cows,  they  were  so  many 
as  I  came  up  the  mountain." 

"There  are  plenty  of  cows  about,"  answered 
the  young  man  dubiously.  "But  if  I  fetch  one, 
can  you  milk  it?" 

"Pray,  good  friend,  fetch  the  cow  and  milk  the 
cow,"  cried  Sylvia.  "And  here  is  a  trifle  to 
reward  all  your  kindness  and  trouble." 

She  would  not  see  the  blood  rising  in  a  red 
tide  to  the  brown  forehead,  but  bent  her  eyes 
upon  her  hand,  from  which  she  slowly  withdrew 


58     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

a  ring.  It  fitted  tightly,  for  it  was  years  since 
she  had  had  it  made,  before  the  little  fingers  had 
finished  growing.  And  when  she  had  pulled  off 
the  circlet  of  gold,  she  held  it  up  alluringly. 

"I  will  do  my  best  to  get  you  the  milk,"  said 
the  hunter,  "but  we  mountain  men  don't  take 
payment  from  our  guests." 

"Here  is  no  payment;  only  something  to  help 
you  remember  the  first  woman  who,  as  you  say, 
has  ever  entered  this  door.  Please  come  at  least 
and  look." 

The  hunter  drew  near  and  took  the  proffered 
ornament.  "The  crest  of  Rhaetia ! "  he  exclaimed, 
as  his  eyes  fell  upon  a  shield  of  black  and  green 
enamel,  set  with  tiny,  sparkling  brilliants. 

"Press  a  spring  at  the  left  side,"  directed  the 
giver,  a  faint  tremor  in  her  voice;  "and  when 
you  have  seen  the  secret  it  will  show,  you  may 
guess  why  I  spoke  at  first  of  the  ring  as  a  reward, 
and  why  you  can't  loyally  refuse  to  accept  it." 

The  brown  forefinger  found  a  pin's  point 
prominence  of  gold,  and  pressing,  the  shield  flew 
up  to  reveal  a  miniature  of  Emperor  Maximilian. 
'You  are  surprised?"  said  Sylvia. 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      59 

"I  am  surprised,  because  I  understood  that 
you  thought  poorly  of  our  Kaiser." 

"Poorly .     What  gave  you  that  impression  ?" 
"Why,  you  scorned  his  opinion  of  women." 
"Who  am  I  to  scorn  an  emperor's  opinion, 
even  on  a  matter  he  would  consider  so  unim 
portant?     I  confess  we  English  girls  are  inter 
ested  in  your  Maximilian,  if  only  because  we 
would  be  charitably  minded  and  teach  him  better. 
But  as  for  the  ring  —  they  sell  such  things  in 
Wandeck  and  many  of  the  towns  I  have  been 
visiting  in  Rhaetia.     Did  you  not  know  that  ?  " 
"No,  lady,  I  did  not  know  it." 
Nor,  as  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  did  Sylvia.     She 
had  first  acted  on  impulse,  and  then  spoken  at 
random.     The  ring  had  been  made  to  order  from 
a   design   of  her   own,   while   she   herself  had 
painted  the  tiny  miniature  on  ivory.     But  she 
had  been  urged  by  a  sudden  desire  to  see  him 
lift  the  jewelled  shield;  and  the  time  was  not  yet 
ripe   for   confessions.     "Keep    the   trinket    for 
your  Kaiser's  sake,"  she  said. 

"May  I  not  keep  it  for  yours  as  well?" 
"Yes  —  if  you  bring  me  the  milk." 


60     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

The  chamois-hunter  caught  up  a  gaudy  jug, 
and,  without  further  words,  strode  out.  When  he 
had  gone,  the  Princess  rose  and  lifting  the  knife  he 
had  used  to  slice  the  bread  and  ham,  she  kissed 
the  handle  on  the  place  where  his  brown  fingers 
had  grasped  it.  :fiYou  are  a  very  silly  girl,  my 
dear,"  she  said.  "But  oh!  how  you  do  love  him! 
And  what  an  exquisite  hour  you  are  having!" 

For  ten  minutes  she  sat  alone;  then  the  door 
was  flung  open  and  her  host  returned,  no  longer 
with  the  gay  air  that  had  sat  like  a  new  cloak 
upon  him,  but  hot  and  sulky,  the  jug  in  his  hand 
empty  still. 

"I  could  not  milk  the  cow,"  he  admitted 
shortly.  "I  chased  one  brute  and  then  another; 
one  I  caught,  but  something  was  wrong  with 
the  abominable  beast,  for  no  milk  would  she 
give  me." 

"Pray  don't  mind,"  Sylvia  soothed  him,  hiding 
laughter.  "  You  were  kind  to  try.  Luckily  you're 
not  the  Kaiser,  who  prides  himself  on  doing  all 
things.  I  wonder,  now,  if  he  could  milk  a  cow  ?" 

"He  should  learn,  if  not,"  broke  out  the 
chamois-hunter.  "There's  no  telling,  it  seems, 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      61 

when  one  may  want  the  strangest  accomplish 
ments,  and  be  shamed  for  lack  of  them." 

"No,  not  shamed,"  protested  Sylvia.  "I  am 
no  longer  thirsty,  and  you  have  been  so  good. 
See;  while  you  were  gone,  I  ate  the  bread-and- 
ham,  and  never  did  any  meal  taste  better. 
Now,  you  will  have  many  things  to  do;  I've 
trespassed  too  long;  and,  besides,  I  have  a 
friend  waiting.  Will  you  tell  me  by  what  name 
I  shall  remember  you  when  I  recall  this  day  ?" 

"  They  named  me  —  for  the  Kaiser." 

"Oh,  then  I  shall  call  you  Max.  Max! 
What  a  nice  name!  I  like  it,  I  think,  as  well  as 
any  I  have  ever  heard.  Will  you  shake  hands 
for  good-bye?" 

The  strong  hand  came  out  eagerly.  "  But  it  is 
not  'good-bye,'  gna'  Fraulein.  You  must  let 
me  help  you  back  to  the  path  and  down  the 
mountain." 

"  I  wished,  but  dared  not  ask  that  of  you,  lest 
—  like  your  namesake  -  -  you  were  a  hater  of 


women.' 


"That  is  too  hard  a  word,  even  for  an  em 
peror,  lady.     While  as  for  me  -—well,  if  I  ever 


62     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

said  to  myself,  'Women  are  not  much  good  to  men 
as  their  companions,'  I'm  ready  to  unsay  it." 

"  Then  you  shall  come  with  me,  and  we'll  look 
for  the  Edelmann,  though  I've  wasted  too  much 
time  over  my  own  pleasure.  And  you  shall  help 
me;  and  you  shall  help  my  friend,  who  is  so 
strong-minded  that  she  will  perhaps  make  you 
think  even  better  of  our  sex.  And  you  shall 
be  our  guide  down  to  Heiligengelt,  where  we  are 
staying  at  the  inn.  And  you  shall,  if  you  will, 
carry  our  cloaks  and  rucksacks,  which  seem  so 
heavy  to  us,  but  will  be  nothing  for  your  strong 
shoulders." 

The  face  of  the  chamois-hunter  expressed  such 
mirthful  appreciation  of  her  commands,  that 
Sylvia  turned  her  head  away,  lest  he  should 
guess  she  held  a  key  to  the  inner  situation.  His 
willingness  to  become  a  beast  of  burden  at  the 
service  of  the  English  lady  whom  he  had  seen, 
and  her  whom  he  had  yet  to  see,  was  indubitably 
genuine.  For  the  next  few  hours  he  was  free,  it 
seemed  —  this  namesake  of  the  Emperor.  He 
had  been  out  before  dawn,  and  had  had  good 
luck.  Later,  he  had  returned  to  the  hut  for  a 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      63 

meal  and  rest,  while  his  friends  went  down  to 
the  village  on  business.  But  he  had  meant  all 
along  to  join  them  sooner  or  later;  and  he 
hoped  that  he  might  atone  by  his  assistance  for 
his  failure  with  the  cow. 

"  Do  not  go  away  thinking  that  we  Rhaetians, 
Royal  or  peasant,  are  so  cold  of  heart  as  you  have 
fancied,  gna'  Fraulein"  he  said  at  last,  when 
their  tete-a-tete  ended  with  a  sight  of  Miss 
MTherson's  distant  profile.  "The  torrent  of 
our  blood  may  sleep  for  a  season  under  ice,  but 
when  the  spring  comes,  and  the  ice  is  broken, 
then  the  torrent  gushes  forth  more  hotly  because 
it  has  not  spent  its  strength  before." 

"I  shall  remember  that,"  said  Sylvia,  "for  - 
my  journal  of  Rhaetia." 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  distant  profile 
became  a  full  face,  with  telescopic  eye-glasses, 
gazing  starward. 


"  I  thought  you  were  never  coming,"  exclaimed 
Miss  MTherson;  then  stopped  abruptly  at  the 
sight  of  the  young  man  with  bare  knees. 


64     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"Perhaps  I  never  should,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  help  of  this  good  friend,"  responded  Sylvia; 
"for  I  got  myself  into  unexpected  difficulties  up 
there.  His  name  is  Max,  and  he  is  a  monarch  of 
—  chamois-hunters.  Give  him  your  rucksack 
and  cape,  dear  Miss  Collinson;  Max  is  kind 
enough  to  be  our  guide  down  the  mountain,  as 
you  seemed  so  timid  about  making  the  descent 
with  me  alone." 

Miss  M'Pherson,  a  staunch  Royalist  and  firm 
believer  in  the  divine  right  of  kings,  grew  crim 
son  as  to  nose  and  ears  —  a  mute  protest  against 
this  mischievous  command.  What  a  thing  to 
have  happened!  Here  was  her  adored  young 
Princess  leading  the  Imperial  Eagle  (disguised, 
indeed,  yet  Royal  withal)  a  captive  in  chains. 
What  an  achievement  even  for  all-conquering 
beauty,  within  the  space  of  one  short  hour  — 
short  for  so  great  a  conquest,  though  it  had 
appeared  long  enough  in  waiting.  Such  triumph 
was  no  more  than  a  tribute  due  to  that  Rose- 
of-all-the- World,  Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg- 
Neuwald,  and  must  have  been  given  her  by  the 
patron  saint  of  lovers.  But  that  Jane  M'Pher- 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  BARE  KNEES      65 

son,  daughter  of  a  plain  country  parson  of 
Dumbartonshire,  should  fling  upon  the  sacred 
shoulders  of  an  emperor  her  brown  canvas 
riicksack,  stuffed  with  eggs  and  bread  and  cheese; 
her  golf-cape,  with  goloshes  in  the  pocket,  was 
too  monstrous.  Her  whole  nature  revolted 
against  the  suggestion  of  such  lese-majeste. 

"Pray,  dearest  P  —  Mary,"  the  unhappy 
lady  stammered,  "don't  ask  me  to --really 
these  things  of  mine  are  nothing.  I  can  hardly 
feel  their  weight." 

"  All  the  better  for  our  friend  Max,  since  he  is 
to  carry  them,"  came  the  calm  response.  "  Help 
her  to  undo  the  buckles,  please,  Max.  Now  you 
may  have  the  pleasure  of  giving  her  your  arm." 


Ac 


CHAPTER  IV 

MAX   VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN 

CH  Himmel!"  exclaimed  Frau  Johann.  And 


Ach  Himmel ! "she exclaimed  again,  with 
frantic  uplifting  of  the  hands. 

The  Grand  Duchess  turned  pale,  for  the  land 
lady  had  suddenly  exhibited  these  signs  of 
emotion  while  passing  a  window  of  the  private 
sitting-room.  It  was  the  hour  for  afternoon  tea 
in  England,  for  afternoon  coffee  in  Rhaetia,  and 
already  the  Princess's  mother  had  begun  to  look 
nervously  for  the  climbers'  return.  Naturally, 
at  Frau  Johann's  outburst  of  excitement,  her 
imagination  pictured  disaster. 

"What  —  oh,  what  can  you  see?"  she 
implored  in  piercing  accents;  but  for  once  the 
courtesy  due  to  a  guest  was  forgotten,  and  Frau 
Johann  fled  without  giving  an  answer. 

Half  paralyzed  with  apprehension,  her  mind 
conjuring  some  sight  of  terror,  the  Grand 

66 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  07 

Duchess  tottered  to  the  window.  Was  there  — 
yes,  there  was  a  procession.  Oh,  horror!  They 
were  perhaps  bringing  Sylvia  down  from  the 
mountain,  dead,  her  beautiful  face  crushed  out 
of  recognition.  Yet,  no  —  there  was  Sylvia 
herself,  the  central  figure  in  that  procession. 
A  peasant,  loaded  with  cloaks  and  rucksacks, 
headed  the  band,  while  Sylvia  and  Miss  MTher- 
son  followed  after. 

The  anxious  mother  had  thrown  wide  the 
window,  but  as  she  was  about  to  attract 
the  truants'  attention  with  an  impromptu 
speech  of  welcome,  the  words  were  arrested 
on  her  lips.  What  was  the  matter  with  Frau 
Johann  ? 

The  old  woman  had  popped  out  of  the  door 
like  a  Jack  out  of  his  box,  sprung  to  the  much- 
loaded  peasant,  and,  almost  rudely  elbowing 
Miss  MTherson  aside,  was  distractedly  tearing 
at  the  bundle  of  cloaks  and  rucksacks.  Her 
inarticulate  groans  ascended  to  the  Grand 
Duchess  at  the  window,  adding  to  the  lady's 
increased  bewilderment. 

"What  has  the  man  been  doing?"  the  Grand 


68     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Duchess  demanded.  But  nobody  answered, 
because  nobody  heard. 

"Pray  let  him  carry  our  thing  indoors," 
Sylvia  was  insisting,  while  the  peasant  stood 
among  the  three  women,  apparently  a  prey  to 
conflicting  emotions.  To  the  Grand  Duchess, 
as  she  regarded  the  strange  scene  through  her 
lorgnette,  it  seemed  that  his  dark  face  expressed 
a  mingling  amusement,  annoyance,  and  embar 
rassment.  He  looked  like  a  man  who  had 
somehow  placed  himself  in  a  false  position,  and 
was  torn  betwixt  a  desire  to  laugh  and  to  fly 
into  a  rage.  He  frowned  haughtily  at  Frau 
Johann,  smiled  at  the  two  ladies,  dividing  his 
energies  between  secret  gestures  (which  he 
evidently  intended  for  the  eye  of  the  landlady 
alone)  and  endeavours  to  unburden  himself,  in 
his  own  time  and  way,  of  the  load  he  carried. 

More  and  more  did  the  Grand  Duchess 
wonder  what  was  going  on.  Why  did  this  man 
not  speak  out  what  he  had  to  say?  Why  did 
Frau  Johann  at  first  seek  to  seize  the  things 
which  he  had  on  his  back,  then  suddenly  shrink 
away  as  if  in  fear,  leaving  the  brown-faced 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  69 

peasant  to  his  own  devices  ?  How  had  he  con 
trived,  with  a  look,  to  intimidate  that  brave 
honest  woman  ? 

There  was  mystery  here,  thought  the  Grand 
Duchess;  and  she  remembered  dark  tales  of 
brigands,  dreaded  by  all  the  country-folk,  yet 
protected  for  very  fear.  She  was  painfully  near 
sighted,  but  by  constant  application  of  the  lorg 
nette  she  arrived  at  a  logical  conclusion. 

Frau  Johann  had  doubtless  been  frightened  at 
seeing  her  guests  coming  down  the  mountain  in 
such  evil  company.  She  had  rushed  to  their 
succour,  trying  to  make  sure  that  their  belongings 
had  not  been  tampered  with.  But  those  great 
brown  eyes  under  the  rakish  hat  had  glared  a 
secret  warning,  and  Frau  Johann  had  despair 
ingly  abandoned  her  championship  of  the  ladies. 

In  the  adjoining  sitting-room,  the  Grand 
Duchess  had  reason  to  know,  were  at  that 
moment  assembled  some  or  all  of  the  mysterious 
gentlemen  stopping  at  the  inn.  They  had 
probably  been  attracted  to  their  window  by 
the  voices  below;  and  the  Grand  Duchess 
courageously  resolved  that,  at  the  slightest  sign 


70     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

of  impudence  on  the  part  of  the  luggage-carrier, 
these  noblemen  should  be  promptly  summoned 
by  her  to  the  rescue. 

Her  anxiety  was  even  slightly  allayed  at  this 
point  in  her  reflections  by  the  thought  (she  had 
not  quite  outgrown  an  inmate  love  of  romance) 
that  the  Emperor  himself  might  rush  to  the 
succour  of  beauty  in  distress.  His  friends  were 
in  the  next  room,  having  come  down  from  the 
mountains  at  noon,  and  there  seemed  little  doubt 
that  he  was  among  them.  If  he  had  not  already 
looked  out  from  the  window,  and  been  astonished 
at  sight  of  so  much  loveliness,  the  Grand  Duchess 
decided,  upon  an  inspiration,  that  he  must  be 
induced  to  do  so.  She  would  help  on  Sylvia's 
cause  and  win  her  gratitude  when  the  true  story 
of  this  day  should  be  told. 

In  a  penetrating  voice,  which  could  not  fail 
to  reach  the  ears  of  those  in  the  room  adjoining 
hers,  or  the  ears  of  the  actors  in  the  scene  below, 
she  adjured  her  daughter  in  English.  This 
language  was  safest,  she  considered,  as  the 
desperado  with  the  rucksacks  could  not  under 
stand  and  resent  her  criticism,  while  the  flower  of 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  71 

Rhaetian  chivalry  next  door  would  comprehend 
both  the  words  and  the  necessity  for  action. 

"Mary!"  she  shrieked,  loyally  remembering 
in  her  excitement  the  part  she  was  playing. 
"Mary,  where  did  you  pick  up  that  alarming- 
looking  ruffian  ?  I  believe  he  intends  to  keep 
your  rucksacks.  Is  there  no  man-servant  about 
the  place  whom  Frau  Johann  can  call  to  her 
assistance?" 

All  four  of  the  actors  glanced  up,  aware  for 
the  first  time  of  an  audience.  Had  the  Grand 
Duchess  been  less  near-sighted,  less  agitated,  she 
might  have  been  surprised  at  the  varying  yet 
vivid  expressions  of  the  faces.  But  she  saw  only 
that  the  tall,  dark-faced  peasant,  who  had  so 
glared  at  poor  Frau  Johann,  was  throwing  off  his 
burdens  with  sudden  haste  and  roughness. 

"I  do  hope  he  hasn't  stolen  anything,"  said 
the  Grand  Duchess.  "Better  not  let  him  go 
until  you  have  looked  into  your  rucksacks. 
That  silver  drinking-cup  you  would  take  up— 

She  paused,  not  so  much  in  obedience  to 
Sylvia's  quick  reply,  as  in  amazement  at  Frau 
Johann's  renewed  antics.  Was  it  possible  that 


72     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

the  landlady  understood  more  English  than  her 
guests  supposed,  and  feared  lest  the  man  with 
the  bare  knees  --  perhaps  equally  well-informed 
-  might  seek  immediate  revenge  ?  Those  bare 
knees  alone  were  evidence  against  his  char 
acter  in  the  eyes  of  the  Grand  Duchess.  They 
imparted  a  brazen,  desperate  air;  and  a  man 
who  cultivated  so  long  a  space  between  stock 
ings  and  trousers  might  easily  be  capable  of 
any  crime. 

"Oh,  mother,  you  are  very  much  mistaken. 
This  exellent  young  man  is  a  great  friend  of 
mine,  and  has  saved  my  life,"  Sylvia  was  pro 
testing;  and  her  words  began  at  length  to 
penetrate  the  ears  of  the  Grand  Duchess. 
Overwhelmed  by  their  full  import,  she  suffered 
a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling,  which  caused  her 
to  catch  at  the  window-curtains  for  support. 

"Saved  your  life!"  she  echoed.  "Then  you 
have  been  in  danger.  Thank  heaven,  the  young- 
man  is  not  likely  to  know  English,  or  I  should 
not  soon  forgive  myself.  Here  is  my  purse. 
Give  it  to  him,  and  come  indoors  at  once.  You 
really  look  ready  to  faint." 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  73 

So  speaking,  she  snatched  from  a  table  close 
by  her  purse,  containing  ten  or  twelve  pounds  in 
Rhaetian  money ;  but  before  she  could  accomplish 
her  dramatic  purpose,  flinging  the  guerdon 
literally  at  the  misjudged  hero's  feet,  Sylvia 
prevented  her  with  an  imploring  gesture. 

"He  will  take  no  reward  for  what  he  has  done 
save  our  thanks,  and  those  I  give  him  now,  for 
the  second  time,"  cried  the  girl.  She  then 
turned  to  the  man,  and  made  him  a  present  of 
her  hand,  over  which  he  bowed  with  the  air  of 
a  courtier  rather  than  the  rough  manner  of  a 
peasant.  The  Grand  Duchess  still  hoped  that 
the  Emperor  might  be  at  the  window,  as  really 
it  was  a  pretty  sight,  and  presented  a  pleasing 
phase  of  Sylvia's  character. 

She  eagerly  awaited  her  daughter's  approach, 
and  having  lingered  to  watch  with  impatience 
the  rather  ceremonious  parting,  she  hastened  to 
the  door  of  the  sitting-room  to  welcome  the 
travellers  as  they  came  upstairs. 

"  My  darling,  who  do  you  think  was  listening 
and  looking  from  the  window  next  ours?"  she 
breathlessly  inquired,  when  she  had  embraced 


74     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

her  recovered  treasure  —  for  the  secret  of  the 
adjoining  room  was  too  great  to  keep.  "You 
can't  guess  ?  I'm  surprised  at  that,  since  you 
are  not  ignorant  of  a  certain  person's  nearness. 
Why,  who  but  the  Emperor  himself?" 

"  Then  he  must  have  an  astral  body  —  a 
Doppelg anger,"  said  Sylvia,  "since  he  has  been 
with  me  all  day,  and  that  was  he  to  whom  you 
offered  your  purse." 

The  Grand  Duchess  sat  down;  not  so  much 
because  she  desired  to  assume  the  sitting  position 
as  because  she  experienced  a  sudden  weakening 
of  the  knees.  For  a  moment  she  was  unable  to 
speculate :  but  a  poignant  thought  passed  through 
her  brain.  "  Heavens !  what  have  I  done  ?  And 
it  may  be  that  one  day  he  will  become  my  son- 
in-law." 

Meanwhile,  Frau  Johann  —  a  strangely  sub 
dued  Frau  Johann — had  droopingly  followed 
the  chamois-hunter  into  the  house. 

"My  friend,  you  must  learn  not  to  lose  your 
head,"  said  he,  when  she  had  timidly  joined  him 
in  the  otherwise  deserted  hall. 

"Oh,  but  Your  Majesty " 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  75 

"How  many  times  must  I  remind  you  that 
His  Majesty  remains  in  Salzbriick  or  some  other 
of  his  residences  when  I  am  at  Heiligengelt  ?  If 
you  cannot  remember,  I  must  look  for  chamois 
elsewhere  than  on  the  Weisshorn." 

"I  will  not  forget  again,  Your  —  I  mean,  I 
will  do  my  best.  Yet  never  before  have  I  been 
so  tried.  To  see  your  noble  and  high-born 
shoulders  loaded  down  as  if  -  -  as  if  you  had  been 
but  a  common  Gepdcktrdger  instead  of  - 

"  A  chamois-hunter  ?  Don't  distress  yourself 
my  friend.  I  have  had  a  very  good  day's  sport." 

"It  has  given  me  a  weakness  of  the  heart, 
Your  —  sir.  How  can  I  again  order  myself 
civilly  to  those  ladies,  who 

"Who  have  afforded  peasant  Max  a  few 
amusing  hours.  Be  more  civil  than  ever,  for 
my  sake,  friend.  And,  by  the  way,  do  you 
happen  to  know  the  names  of  the  ladies  ?  That 
one  of  them  is  Miss  Collison,  I  have  heard;  but 
the  others  - 

"They  are  mother  and  daughter,  sir.  The 
elder,  who  spoke,  in  her  ignorance,  such  treason 
able  things  from  the  window,  is  called  by  the 


76     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Miss  Collinson  'Lady  de  Courcy.'  The  younger 
—  the  beautiful  one  —  is  also  a  miss ;  and  I 
think  her  name  is  Mary.  They  talk  together 
in  English,  and  though  I  know  few  words  of 
that  language,  I  have  heard  'London'  mentioned 
not  once,  but  many  times  between  them.  Besides, 
it  is  painted  in  big  black  letters  on  their  boxes." 

"You  did  not  expect  them  here  ?" 

"Oh,  no,  sir.  Had  any  one  written  at  this 
season,  when  I  am  honoured  by  your  presence, 
I  should  have  answered  that  we  were  full,  or 
the  house  closed  —  or  any  excuse  which 
occurred  to  me.  But  no  strangers  have  ever 
remained  hi  Heiligengelt,  or  arrived,  so  late; 
and  I  was  taken  unawares  when  my  son  Alois 
drove  them  up  last  night.  They  are  here  but 
for  a  few  days,  on  their  way  to  Salzbriick,  and 
so  home,  the  pretty  Miss  de  Courcy  said;  and 
I  thought  -  -" 

"You  did  quite  right,  Frau  Johann.  Has  my 
messenger  come  with  letters?" 

:<  Yes,  Your — yes,  sir ;  just  now  also  a  telegram 
was  brought  up  by  another  messenger,  who 
came  in  a  great  hurry,  and  has  but  lately  gone." 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  77 

The  chamois-hunter  shrugged  his  shoulders 
and  gave  vent  to  an  impatient  sigh.  "It  is  too 
much  to  expect  that  I  should  be  left  in  peace  for 
a  single  day,  even  here,"  he  muttered  as  he 
moved  toward  the  stairs. 

To  reach  Frau  Johann's  best  sitting-room 
(selfishly  occupied,  according  to  one  opinion,  by 
the  gentlemen  absent  all  day  upon  the  moun 
tains)  he  was  obliged  to  pass  a  door  through 
which  issued  unusual  sounds.  Involuntary  he 
paused.  Some  one  was  striking  the  preliminary 
chords  of  a  volkslied  on  his  favourite  instrument, 
a  Rhaetian  improvement  upon  the  zither.  As 
he  lingered,  listening,  a  voice  began  to  sing  - 
such  a  voice!  Softly  seductive  as  the  purling 
of  a  brook  through  a  meadow ;  rich  as  the  deepest 
notes  of  a  nightingale  in  its  first  passion  for  the 
moon. 

The  song  was  the  heartbroken  cry  of  an  old 
Rhaetian  peasant,  who,  lying  near  death  in  a 
strange  land,  longs  for  the  sunrise  light  on  the 
mountain-tops  at  home,  more  earnestly  than  for 
heaven. 

The  listener  did  not  move  until  the  voice  had 


78     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

died  into  silence.  He  knew,  though  he  could  not 
see,  who  the  singer  had  been.  It  was  impossible 
for  the  fat  lady  at  the  window,  or  the  thin  lady 
with  the  Baedeker,  to  own  a  voice  like  that. 
Only  one  there  was  who  could  so  exhale  her  soul 
in  the  perfume  of  sound.  To  his  fancy,  it  was 
like  hearing  the  fragrance  of  a  lily  breathed  aloud. 
In  reality,  it  was  Sylvia,  with  childish  vanity, 
showing  off  her  prettiest  accomplishment,  in 
order  that  the  impression  she  had  made  might 
be  deepened. 

The  man  outside  the  door  had  heard  many 
golden  voices  —  golden  in  all  senses  of  the  word 
-  but  never  before  one  which  so  strangely 
stirred  his  spirit,  stirred  it  with  a  pain  that  was 
bitter  sweet  and  a  vague  yearning  for  something 
he  had  never  known.  If  he  had  been  asked  what 
was  the  thing  for  which  he  sighed,  he  could  not, 
if  he  would,  have  told ;  for  a  man  cannot  explain 
that  inner  part  of  himself  which  he  has  never 
even  tried  to  understand. 

Before  he  had  thought  of  moving,  the  beauti 
ful  voice,  no  longer  plaintive,  but  swelling  to 
triumphant  brilliancy,  broke  into  the  national 


MAX  VERSUS  MAXIMILIAN  79 

anthem  of  Rhaetia  —  warlike,  calling  her  sons 
to  face  death  singing,  in  her  defense.  It  was 
as  if  a  rainbow  shower  of  diamonds  had  been 
flung  into  the  sunshine,  and  the  heart  of  the  man 
who  stood  at  the  head  of  his  nation  thrilled  with 
the  response  that  never  failed. 

"She  is  an  Englishwoman,  yet  she  sings  the 
Rhaetian  music  as  I  have  never  known  a  Rhaetian 
girl  sing  it,"  he  told  himself,  slowly  passing  on 
to  his  own  door.  "  She  is  a  new  type  of  woman 
to  me.  A  pity  that  she  is  not  a  Princess,  or  else 
—  that  Maximilian  and  Max  the  chamois- 
hunter  are  not  two.  Still,  in  such  a  case,  the 
chamois-hunter  would  be  no  match  for  Miss 
de  Courcy  of  London,  so  the  weights  would 
balance  in  the  scales  as  unevenly  as  now." 

He  smiled,  and  sighed,  and  shrugged  his 
shoulders  once  again.  Then  he  opened  the  door 
of  his  sitting-room,  to  forget,  among  certain 
documents  which  urged  the  importance  of 
immediate  return  to  duty,  the  difference  between 
Max  and  Maximilian,  the  difference  between 
women  and  women. 

"Good-bye    to    the    mountains,    to-morrow 


80     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

morning,"  he  said  to  his  chosen  comrades. 
"Hey  for  work  and  Salzbriick  again!" 

She  was  going  to  Salzbriick  in  a  few  days, 
according  to  Frau  Johann.  But  Salzbriick  was 
not  Heiligengelt,  and  Maximilian  the  Emperor 
was  not,  at  his  palace,  in  the  way  of  meeting 
tourists.  It  was  good-bye  to  Miss  de  Courcy  as 
well  as  to  the  mountains. 

"She'll  never  know  to  whom  she  gave  her 
ring,"  he  thought,  with  the  dense  innocence  of  a 
man  who  has  studied  all  books  save  woman's 
looks.  "And  I'll  never  know  who  gives  her  a 
plain  gold  one  for  the  finger  on  which  she  once 
wore  this." 

But  in  the  next  room,  divided  from  him  by 
a  single  wall,  sat  Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg- 
Neuwald. 

"When  we  meet  again  at  Salzbriick,  he  must 
never  dream  that  I  knew  all  the  time,"  she  was 
saying  to  herself.  "Some  day  I  shall  long  to 
confess.  But  I  could  only  confess  to  a  man  who 
excused,  because  he  loved  me.  And  suppose 
that  day  should  never  come?" 


CHAPTER  V 

NOT    DOWN    IN    THE    PROGRAMME 

KTTERS  of  introduction  for  Lady  de 
Courcy  and  her  daughter  to  those  best 
worth  knowing  among  Rhaetia's  haute  noblesse 
were  a  part  of  the  "plan"  concocted  in  the 
Richmond  garden  —  that  plan  which  the  Grand 
Duchess  had  seen  and  dreaded  in  Sylvia's 
shining  eyes. 

The  widow  of  the  Hereditary  Grand  Duke  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald  was  reported  in  the  papers  to 
be  travelling  with  the  Princess  Sylvia  in  Canada 
and  the  United  States.  Fortunately  for  the 
plot,  the  elder  lady  had  spent  so  many  years  in 
retirement  hi  England,  and  had,  even  in  her 
youth,  met  so  few  Rhaetians,  that  there  was  little 
fear  of  any  embarrassing  contretemps.  Her 
objections  to  the  unconventional  attempt  to 
win  a  lover,  instead  of  resting  content  with  a 
mere  husband,  were  based  on  other  grounds; 

81 


82     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Sylvia  had  overcome  them,  nevertheless;  and, 
in  the  end,  the  Grand  Duchess  had  proved  not 
only  docile  but  positively  fertile  in  expedient. 
She  it  was  who  suggested,  since  the  adoption  of 
borrowed  plumes  was  a  necessity,  that  de 
Courcy,  her  mother's  maiden  name,  should  be 
chosen. 

One  friend  only  had  been  taken  into  Sylvia's 
fullest  confidence,  and  that  friend  wTas  a  lady 
whose  husband  had  been  British  Ambassador  at 
the  Rhaetian  Court.  She  knew  "everybody  who 
was  anybody"  there,  and  had  entered  with  a 
fearful  joy  into  the  spirit  of  the  escapade. 
Exactly  how  it  was  to  end  she  did  not  see;  but 
so  far  as  she  was  concerned,  that  was  a  detail ; 
and  she  had  written  for  Lady  de  Courcy  all  the 
letters  needful  as  an  open  sesame  to  the  Court. 

Sylvia  did  not  wish  to  hurry  away  from  Heili- 
gengelt  to  Salzbruck,  even  though  the  inn  was 
empty  (save  for  her  own  small  party)  two  days 
after  their  arrival.  They  had  met :  the  rest  lay 
on  the  knees  of  the  gods.  And  since  the  best 
sitting-room  was  now  at  the  ladies'  disposal,  it 
was  but  fair  to  Frau  Johann  that  they  should 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         83 

remain  for  a  time,  if  only  to  make  use  of  it. 
When  they  left  at  last,  after  a  stay  of  a  week,  it 
was  to  go  to  Salzbruck  for  the  great  festivities 
which  were  to  mark  the  Emperor's  thirty-first 
birthday,  an  event  enhanced  in  national  impor 
tance  by  the  fact  that  the  tenth  anniversary  of 
his  succession  would  fall  on  the  same  date.  On 
the  day  of  the  journey,  the  Grand  Duchess 
had  a  headache  and  was  cross. 

"I  don't  see  what  you've  accomplished  so  far 
by  this  mad  freak,"  she  said  fretfully  to  her 
daughter,  in  the  train  which  carried  them  away 
from  Pitzbiihel.  "We've  been  perched  on  a 
mountain-top,  like  the  Ark  on  Ararat,  for  a 
week,  our  marrow  freezing  in  our  bones;  and, 
after  all,  what  have  we  to  show  for  it  —  unless  an 
incipient  influenza?" 

Sylvia  had  nothing  to  show  for  it;  at  least, 
nothing  that  she  meant  to  show;  but  in  a  little 
scented  silk  bag  which  nestled  against  her 
heart  lay  a  tiny  folded  piece  of  blotting-paper. 
If  you  looked  at  its  reflection  in  a  mirror,  you 
saw,  written  twice  over,  in  a  firm,  opinionated 
hand,  the  name,  "Mary  de  Courcy."  And 


84      THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Sylvia  had  found  it  in  a  book  after  Frau  Johann 
had  made  the  best  sitting-room  ready  for  new 
occupants.  Therefore  she  loved  Heiligengelt ; 
therefore  she  thought  with  silent  satisfaction  of 
her  visit  there. 

To  learn  her  full  name  he  must  have  made 
inquiries,  for  Miss  MTherson  had  not  uttered 
it  on  their  progress  down  the  mountain.  It 
had  been  in  his  thoughts,  or  he  would  not  have 
committed  it  to  paper  in  a  moment  of  idle  dream 
ing.  Through  all  her  life  Sylvia  had  known 
the  want  of  money,  but  now  she  would  not  have 
taken  a  thousand  pounds  for  the  contents  of 
the  silken  bag. 

Hohenburg  is  the  family  name  of  Rhaetia's 
emperors ;  therefore  everything  in  Salzbriick  that 
can  be  Hohenburg  is  Hohenburg;  and  it  was 
at  the  Hohenburgerhof,  Salzbrlick's  grandest 
hotel,  that  a  suite  of  rooms  had  been  hired  for 
Lady  de  Courcy's  party. 

They  had  broken  the  journey  at  Wandeck; 
and  Sylvia  had  so  timed  it  that  they  should 
arrive  in  Salzbriick  an  hour  before  the  first  of  the 
ceremonies  on  the  birthday  eve  —  the  unveiling 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         85 

by  the  Kaiser  of  the  great  national  statue  of 
Rhaetia  in  the  Maximilian  Platz,  exactly  in  front 
of  the  Hohenburgerhof.  At  the  station  they 
were  told  by  the  driver  of  their  selected  droschky 
that  he  would  not  be  able  to  take  the  high,  well 
born  ladies  to  the  main  door  of  the  Hohen 
burgerhof,  for  the  passage  of  carriages  was 
forbidden  in  the  Maximilian  Platz,  where  the 
crowd  had  been  assembling  since  dawn  for  the 
ceremony;  and  that  he  would  be  compelled  to 
deposit  them  and  their  luggage  at  a  side  entrance. 
As  they  left  the  station,  from  far  away  came  a 
burst  of  martial  music,  a  military  band  playing 
the  national  air  which  the  chamois-hunter  had 
heard  the  English  girl  singing  at  Heiligengelt. 
The  shops  were  closed  for  the  day;  from  nearly 
every  window  hung  a  flag  or  banner,  while  the 
old  narrow  streets  and  the  broad  new  streets 
were  festooned  with  bunting,  wreaths  of  ever 
green,  and  autumn  flowers.  Prosperous  citizens 
in  their  best,  peasants  in  gay  holiday  attire, 
streamed  toward  the  Maximilian  Platz.  It 
seemed  to  Sylvia  that  the  air  tingled  with  expec 
tation;  she  thought  that  she  must  have  felt  the 


86     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

magnetic  thrill  in  it,  even  if  she  had  shut  her 
eyes  and  ears. 

"  We  shall  be  in  time.  We  shall  see  the  cere 
mony  from  our  windows,"  she  excitedly  said. 

But  at  the  hotel  she  encountered  a  keen  dis 
appointment.  With  many  apologies  the  land 
lord  explained  that  he  had  done  his  best  for  the 
ladies  when  he  received  their  letter  a  week 
before,  and  that  he  had  allotted  them  a  good 
suite,  with  balconies,  overlooking  the  river  at 
the  back  of  the  house  —  the  situation  considered 
preferable  on  ordinary  occasions.  But,  as  to 
rooms  in  the  front,  it  was  impossible;  they  had 
all  been  taken  more  than  six  weeks  in  advance; 
one  American  gentleman  was  paying  a  thousand 
gulden  for  an  hour's  use  of  a  small  balcony 
leading  off  the  drawing-room. 

Sylvia  was  pale  with  disappointment.  "I 
will  go  down  into  the  crowd  and  take  my 
chance,"  she  said  to  her  mother  when  they  had 
been  shown  into  the  handsome  rooms,  so  sat 
isfactory  in  everything  but  situation. 

"My  dear  —  impossible.  exclaimed  the 
Grand  Duchess.  "  I  could  not  think  of  allowing 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         87 

it.     Only  fancy  what  a   crush  there  will  be  - 
people  trampling  on  each  other  for  places.     You 
could  see  nothing." 

"But  I  couldn't  bear  to  stay  shut  up  here," 
pleaded  Sylvia,  "while  that  music  plays  and  the 
crowds  shout  themselves  hoarse  for  the  Emperor. 
Something  inside  me  seems  to  say  that  I  must  be 
there.  And  Miss  M'Pherson  and  I  will  take 
care  of  each  other." 

Somehow  —  she  hardly  knew  how  --  consent 
was  as  usual  wrung  from  the  Grand  Duchess's 
reluctance,  the  only  stipulation  being  that 
Sylvia  and  her  chaperon  should  keep  close  to  the 
hotel,  returning  at  once  if  they  found  themselves 
in  danger  of  being  borne  away  by  the  crowd. 

Their  rooms  were  on  the  first  floor,  and  the 
girl  hurried  down  the  broad  flight  of  marble 
stairs,  without  sending  for  the  lift,  Miss  M'Pher 
son  following  upon  her  heels. 

They  could  not  get  out  by  the  front  door,  for 
people  had  paid  for  places  there,  and  would  not 
yield  an  inch  even  for  a  moment;  while  the  two 
or  three  steps  below  and  the  pavement  in  front 
were  closely  blocked. 


88     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Matters  began  to  look  hopeless,  but  Sylvia 
would  not  yet  be  daunted.  They  tried  the  wide 
entrance,  and  found  it  free,  the  street  into  which 
it  led  being  comparatively  empty;  but  beyond, 
where  it  joined  the  great  open  square  of  the 
Maximilian  Platz,  there  was  a  solid  wall  of 
human  beings. 

"We  might  as  well  go  back,"  said  Miss 
M'Pherson,  who  had  not  Sylvia's  keenness  for 
the  undertaking.  She  was  comfortably  fatigued 
after  the  journey,  and  would  rather  have  had  a 
cup  of  tea  than  see  fifty  emperors  unveil  as  many 
statues. 

"Look  at  that  man  just  ahead,"  whispered 
the  Princess;  "he  doesn't  mean  to  go  back. 
Let  us  keep  close  behind  him,  and  see  what  he 
is  going  to  do.  He  has  the  air  of  one  who  has 
made  up  his  mind  to  get  something  or  do  some 
thing,  which  he  won't  easily  give  up." 

Miss  M'Pherson  brought  a  critical  gaze  to 
bear  upon  the  person  indicated.  He  was  strid 
ing  rapidly  along,  a  few  yards  in  advance,  only 
his  back  being  visible;  but  it  was  a  singularly 
determined  back;  and  it  was  clad  in  a  gray 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         89 

and  crimson  uniform.  On  his  head  he  wore 
a  cocked  hat,  adorned  with  an  eagle's  feather, 
fastened  by  a  gaudy  jewel.  As  Miss  MTherson 
observed  these  details,  she  noted  half  uncon 
sciously  that  the  man's  neck  between  the  collar 
of  his  coat  and  the  sleek  black  hair  was  yellow- 
white  as  old  parchment. 

"He  looks  like  an  official  of  some  sort,"  she 
remarked.  "Maybe  the  crowd  will  open  to  let 
him  through." 

"So  I  was  thinking,"  hopefully  responded 
Sylvia.  "And  when  the  crowd  opens  for  him, 
if  we're  clever,  it  may  open  for  us  too.  He's  a 
hateful -looking  man,  and  I  have  taken  a  dislike 
to  him  without  a  sight  of  his  face;  but  we  must 
use  him  as  if  he  were  a  Cairene  cyce." 

"He  really  is  going  through!"  exclaimed  Miss 
M'Pherson. 

They  were  close  upon  their  unconscious  pion 
eer  now;  and  as --in  peremptory  tones --he 
informed  the  human  wall  that  it  must  divide  to 
let  him  pass,  because  he  had  come  with  a  special 
message  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  from  the 
Burgomaster,  the  Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg- 


90     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Neuwald  could  have  laid  her  hands  upon  the 
gray  shoulders,  epauletted  with  red. 

The  wall  obeyed,  evidently  recognizing  the 
authority  of  his  uniform.  "It  must  be  the 
secretary  of  Herr  Hermann,  the  Burgomaster/' 
Sylvia  heard  one  man  murmur  knowingly  to 
another.  "Something  of  importance  has,  per 
haps,  been  forgotten,  or  special  news  has  been 
received  and  must  be  reported." 

Good-naturedly  the  crowd  gave  way  for  the 
new  comer;  and,  to  Sylvia's  joy,  she  was  sucked 
into  the  whirlpool  in  his  wake.  Near  the  front, 
people  would  have  stopped  her  if  they  could, 
knowing  that  she,  at  least,  had  no  official  right 
of  entrance;  but  at  the  critical  instant  the  blue- 
and-silver  uniformed  band  of  Rhaetia's  crack 
regiment,  the  "Kaiser's  Own,"  struck  up  an  air 
which  told  them  the  Emperor  was  approaching. 
Angry  ones  were  content  with  keeping  out  the 
tall,  thin  English  spinster  in  tweed,  hustling  and 
pushing  her  into  the  background,  when  she 
would  shrilly  have  protested  in  her  native  tongue 
that  "really,  really  she  must  be  allowed  to  pass 
with  her  friend!" 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         91 

The  man  who  had  announced  his  mission 
from  the  Burgomaster  must  have  felt  that  some 
one  pressed  after  him  with  particularity,  for,  as 
he  reached  the  front  rank  on  the  densely  packed 
pavement,  he  wheeled  sharply  round.  Sylvia, 
her  little  chin  almost  resting  on  his  shoulder, 
met  his  gaze,  shrinking  away  from  the  breath 
that  swept  hot  across  her  cheek. 

"  Just  the  face  I  gave  his  back  credit  for,"  she 
thought  ungratefully.  "Sly  and  cruel,  brutal, 
too  —  and,  how  curiously  pale!" 

A  pair  of  black  eyes,  small,  glassy,  with  a 
peculiar  flatness  of  the  cornea,  had  aimed  at  her 
a  glance  of  suspicion;  and  she  seemed  still  to 
feel  their  penetrating  stare,  when  the  face  was 
turned  away  again.  Having  obtained  his  desire 
—  a  position  in  the  front  rank  of  the  spectators, 
and  incidentally  a  place  for  Sylvia  too  —  the 
man  in  gray  and  red  proceeded  to  take  from  his 
breast  a  roll  of  parchment,  tied  with  narrow 
ribbon  and  sealed  with  a  crimson  seal. 

Sylvia,  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  him, 
had  just  time  to  wonder  if  the  fellow  were  going 
to  read  some  proclamation,  when  a  great  cheer 


92     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

arose  from  thousands  of  throats;  men  waved 
their  hats;  peasant  women  held  up  their  children, 
while  ladies  threw  roses  from  the  decorated 
balconies.  A  white  figure  on  a  white  charger 
came  riding  into  the  square,  under  the  gay- 
coloured  triumphal  arch  of  flags  and  flowers. 

Others  followed:  men  in  rich  dark  uniforms, 
on  coal-black  horses;  yet  Sylvia  saw  only  one, 
glittering  white  from  head  to  foot,  like  hoar-frost 
in  sunlight.  Under  the  shining  helmet  of  steel, 
the  earnest  face  looked  clear-cut  as  cameo.  To 
the  crowd  he  was  the  Kaiser  —  a  fine,  popular, 
clever  young  man,  who  ruled  his  country  well, 
and,  above  all  provided  many  a  pleasing 
spectacle;  to  the  girl  he  was  an  ideal  St.  George, 
strong  and  brave  to  slay  modern  dragons,  right 
all  crying  wrongs. 

How  stately  and  splendid  he  looked,  control 
ling  the  white  charger,  with  its  clanking  silver 
trappings;  how  the  jewelled  orders  on  his  breast 
sparkled,  as  he  saluted  his  enthusiastic  subjects! 

"What  if  he  should  never  love  me?"  Sylvia 
thought,  as  she  often  thought,  with  a  sharp, 
jealous  spasm  of  the  heart. 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         93 

Now  he  was  vaulting  from  his  horse,  while 
men  in  uniforms,  and  men  with  ribbons  and 
decorations,  came  forward,  bowing,  to  receive 
him.  The  ceremony  of  unveiling  the  statue  of 
Rhaetia,  executed  by  one  of  the  world's  most 
famous  sculptors,  was  about  to  begin. 

To  reach  the  great  crimson-draped  platform 
on  which  he  was  presently  to  take  his  stand,  the 
Emperor  must  pass  within  a  few  yards  of  Sylvia. 
His  eyes  travelled  over  the  brightly  coloured 
throng;  what  if  they  should  fall  upon  her? 
The  girl's  heart  was  in  her  throat;  she  could 
feel  it  beating  there,  and  for  a  moment  the  tall 
white  figure  was  lost  in  a  mist  that  rose  before 
her  eyes. 

She  had  forgotten  how  she  came  there  —  for 
gotten  the  stranger  in  gray  and  red  to  whom  she 
owed  her  great  good  fortune;  when  suddenly, 
while  the  mist  was  at  its  thickest,  she  grew  con 
scious  of  the  man's  presence.  So  near  her  he 
stood,  that  a  quick  start,  a  gathering  of  his 
muscles  for  a  spring,  flashed  like  a  message  by 
telegraph  through  her  own  body.  The  mist 
clouding  her  senses  was  burnt  up  in  the  flame  of 


94     THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

a  strange  enlightenment  —  a  clarity  of  vision 
which  showed  not  only  the  hero  of  the  day, 
the  crowd,  and  the  man  beside  her,  but  the 
guilty  soul  of  that  man  as  well. 

"He  is  going  to  kill  the  Emperor!" 

It  was  as  if  a  voice  hissed  the  words  into 
her  ears;  she  knew  now  why  she  had 
struggled  to  win  -  this  place,  why  she  had 
succeeded,  what  she  had  to  do  —  or  die  in 
failing  to  do. 

The  Emperor  was  not  half  a  dozen  yards 
away.  She  alone  had  felt  that  murderous  thrill 
ing,  heard  that  panting  breath;  she  alone  guessed 
what  the  roll  of  parchment  hid. 

While  the  crowd  shouted  for  "Unser  Max!"  a 
figure,  gray  and  red,  leapt  toward  the  white  one, 
with  clenched  hand  upraised,  something  sharp 
and  bright  catching  the  sun  in  a  streak  of  steely 
light  as  it  rose  and  fell. 

Maximilian  saw,  yet  not  in  time  to  swerve 
aside.  The  blade  swooped  hawk-like,  scenting 
blood.  A  second's  fraction,  and  it  would  have 
drunk  deep  —  a  Royal  draught;  but  an  arm 
struck  it  up  and  a  girl  was  sobbing;  while  for 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         95 

her  the  heavens   above   and   the  earth  below 
merged  together  in  whirling  chaos. 


The  man  in  red  and  gray  was  like  a  fox 
among  the  hounds;  and  the  crowd,  in  the  mad 
ness  of  sudden  rage,  would  have  rent  him  limb 
from  limb,  despite  the  cordon  of  police  that 
quickly  gathered  round  him;  but  the  Emperor's 
ringing  voice  commanded  instant  obedience. 
Only  those  in  the  front  ranks,  or  the  windows 
above,  had  seen  the  attack  and  the  unknown 
girl's  intervention;  yet  the  shouts  of  those  who 
had  witnessed  the  furious  rush  forward,  the 
shrieks  of  the  ladies  on  the  balconies,  flashed  the 
news  through  the  Maximilian  Platz  that  there 
had  been  an  attempt  on  the  Kaiser's  life.  That 
little  yellow  man  in  the  Burgomaster's  red  and 
gray  —  he  who  had  pushed  past  everybody  on 
the  pretense  of  official  business  —  he  it  was  who 
had  done  the  deed.  Kill  him --kill  him!  — 
trample  him  down,  tear  out  the  vile  heart  of  him 
and  fling  it  to  the  dogs!  What  of  the  police? 
This  is  not  their  affair,  but  the  people's  —  the 


96      THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

people  who  love  "Unser  Max"  and  would  die 
for  the  Kaiser.  Away  with  the  police!  --but 
no  —  silence,  silence  for  the  Kaiser.  What  is 
he  saying  ?  " My  people  shall  not  be  murderers; 
let  the  law  deal  with  the  madman  —  it  is  my 
command.  Three  cheers  for  the  lady  to  whom 
your  Kaiser  owes  his  life,  and  then  the  cere 
monies  shall  go  on!" 

Three  cheers  ?  Three  times  three,  and  split 
the  skies  with  shouts  for  the  Kaiser.  How  the 
women  cry,  when  they  ought  to  be  laughing!  A 
chance  now  for  the  police  to  hurry  the  limp  thing 
in  gray  and  red  away  out  of  sight  and  off  to 
prison,  for  every  one  turns  to  the  Emperor,  just 
saved  from  the  assassin's  knife.  He  has  sprung 
up  the  steps  of  the  great  crimson-covered  plat 
form,  half  carrying,  half  leading,  a  beautiful 
pale  girl,  who  stifles  her  hysterical  sobbing  and 
tries  to  hide  the  blood  that  drips  from  a  wound 
in  her  arm.  Who  is  she?  Has  any  one  seen 
her  before  ?  God  grant  it  is  a  Rhaetian  who  has 
had  the  good  fortune  and  courage  to  save  the 
Emperor's  life!  Yet  what  does  it  matter? 
There  he  stands,  well  and  unhurt,  holding  her 


NOT  DOWN  IN  THE  PROGRAMME         97 

by  his  side,  that  all  the  people  may  see  her  and 
give  thanks.  She  is  worthy  to  be  a  goddess  in 
their  eyes ;  the  radiance  of  her  beauty  —  as  for 
a  few  seconds  she  stands  gazing  up  into  his 
face,  then  hiding  hers  between  trembling  hands 
—  seems  supernatural.  It  is  only  for  a  moment 
that  they  see  her,  as  the  shouts  of  praise  to 
heaven,  and  the  cheers  for  Maximilian  and  the 
stranger  who  saved  him,  drown  the  music 
for  which  a  signal  has  been  given;  for  the  pro 
gramme  of  the  day  is  to  be  finished  and  the 
episode  to  be  set  aside. 

"God  keep  our  Kaiser!"  the  band  plays;  and 
as  if  the  order  of  events  had  been  undisturbed, 
the  ceremony  of  unveiling  the  statue  goes  on. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   HONOURS   OF  THE   DAY 

IT  IS  those  in  the  thick  of  battle  who  can  after 
ward  tell  least  about  it,  and  to  the  Princess 
those  five  potent  moments  —  the  most  tremen 
dous,  the  most  vital  of  her  life  —  were  in  memory 
like  a  dream.  She  had  felt  a  tigerish  quiver 
run  through  the  body  of  a  man  when  the  crowd 
pressed  close  against  her;  instinct  was  responsi 
ble  for  the  rest.  Vaguely  she  recalled  later  that 
she  had  run  forward  and  thrown  up  the  arm 
that  meant  to  strike;  an  impression  of  the  knife, 
as  the  light  struck  it,  alone  remained  vividly 
in  her  mind.  She  had  thought  of  the  thud 
it  would  make  in  falling,  of  the  life-blood  that 
would  spout  from  the  rent  in  the  white  coat, 
among  the  jewels  and  decorations.  She  had 
thought  of  the  blankness  of  existence  for  her 
in  a  world  empty  of  Maximilian,  and  she 
had  known  that,  unless  she  could  save  him, 

98 


THE  HONOURS  OF  THE  DAY  99 

it  would  be  far  better  to  die  —  then,  in  that 
moment. 

More  than  this  she  had  not  thought  or  known. 
What  she  did  was  done  well-nigh  unconsciously, 
and  she  seemed  to  wake  with  a  start  at  last,  to 
hear  herself  sobbing,  and  to  feel  a  sharp  pain  in 
her  arm. 

A  hundred  hands  —  not  quick  enough  to 
save,  yet  quick  enough  to  follow  the  lead  she 
had  given  —  had  fought  to  seize  the  assassin, 
and  prevent  a  second  blow;  while  as  for  Sylvia, 
her  work  done,  she  forgot  everything  and  every 
one  but  Maximilian. 

It  was  he  who  kept  her  from  falling,  as  the 
knife  aimed  at  his  heart  struck  her  arm;  he  who 
held  her,  as  she  mechanically  clung  to  him,  half 
fainting — brave  no  longer,  but  only  a  frightened, 
weeping  girl. 

Sylvia  heard  him  speak  to  the  crowd  —  a  few 
words  that  rang  out  through  the  furious  babel 
like  a  cathedral  bell.  Still  he  held  her;  and  she 
went  with  him  up  the  steps  of  the  red  platform, 
because  his  arm  compelled  her,  not  by  her  own 
volition. 


100    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

She  hardly  understood  that  the  cheers  of  the 
multitude  were  for  her  as  well  as  for  him;  and 
words  separated  themselves  with  comprehensive 
distinctness  for  the  first  time,  when,  the  necessity 
for  public  action  over,  the  Emperor  turned  to 
whisper  in  her  ear.  "Thank  you  —  thank  you," 
he  said.  "You  are  the  bravest  woman  in  the 
world.  I  had  to  keep  them  from  killing  that 
coward,  but  now  I  can  say  to  you  what  is  in  my 
heart.  I  pray  heaven  you  are  not  much  hurt  ?" 

"Oh,  no,  not  hurt,  but  very  happy,"  breathed 
Sylvia,  hardly  knowing  what  she  said.  She  felt 
like  a  soul  without  a  body;  what  could  it  matter 
if  her  arm  ached  or  bled  ?  The  Emperor  was 
safe,  and  she  had  saved  him  —  she ! 

He  pointed  to  her  sleeve.  "The  knife  struck 
you.  I  would  that  I  could  go  with  you  myself, 
when  you  have  done  so  much  for  me.  Yet  duty 
keeps  me  here;  you  understand  that.  Baron  von 
Lynar  and  the  Baroness  will  take  you  home  at 
once.  They  - 

"But  I  would  rather  stay  and  see  the  rest," 
said  Sylvia.  "I  am  quite  well  now,  so  that  I 
can  go  down  to  my  friend " 


THE  HONOURS  OF  THE  DAY  101 

"If  you  stay,  you  must  stay  her<?,"  said  Maxi 
milian.  "After  what  you  have  done ;  Jt  is  your. 
place." 

The  ladies  of  the  Court,  who  had  with  their 
husbands  been  waiting  to  receive  the  Emperor, 
crowded  round  her,  as  he  turned  to  them  with 
an  expressive  look  and  gesture.  A  seat  was 
given  her;  she  was  a  heroine,  sharing  the  honours 
of  the  day  with  its  hero. 

There  was  scarcely  a  grande  dame  among  the 
distinguished  company  on  the  Emperor's  plat 
form  to  whom  "Lady  de  Courcy"  and  her 
daughter  had  not  a  letter  of  introduction,  from 
their  friend.  But  no  one  knew  at  this  moment 
of  any  other  title  to  their  acquaintance  which  the 
girl  possessed,  except  the  right  conferred  by  her 
deed.  All  smiled  on  her  with  tearful  eyes, 
though  there  were  some  who  would  have  given 
their  ten  fingers  to  have  had  her  praise  and 
credit  for  their  own. 

Sylvia  sat  through  the  ceremonies,  uncon 
scious  that  thousands  of  eyes  were  on  her  face, 
aware  of  little  that  wrent  on;  scarcely  seeing 
the  statue  of  Rhaetia,  whose  glorious  marble 


102    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

womanhood  awakened  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
throng,  hearing  only  the  short,  stirring  speech 
delivered  by  Maximilian. 

When  it  was  all  over  —  the  people  merely 
waiting  to  see  the  Emperor  ride  away  and  the 
great  personages  disperse,  while  the  music 
played  —  Maximilian  turned  once  more  to  Sylvia. 
Every  one  was  listening;  every  one  was  look 
ing  on,  and,  no  matter  what  his  inclination,  his 
words  could  be  but  few.  He  thanked  her 
again  for  her  courage,  and  for  remaining,  as 
if  that  had  been  a  favour  to  him;  asked  where 
she  was  staying  in  town,  and  promised  himself 
the  pleasure  of  sending  to  inquire  for  her  health 
during  the  evening.  His  desire  would  be  to 
call  at  once  in  person,  but,  owing  to  the  pro 
gramme  of  the  day  and  those  immediately 
following,  not  only  each  hour,  but  each  moment, 
would  be  officially  occupied.  These  birthday 
rejoicings  were  troublesome,  but  duty  must 
be  done.  And  then  Maximilian  finished  by 
saying  that  the  Court  physician  would  be  com 
manded  to  attend  upon  her  at  the  hotel. 

With  this  and  a  chivalrous  courtesy  of  parting, 


THE  HONOURS  OF  THE  DAY  103 

he  was  gone  from  the  platform,  Baron  von 
Lynar,  the  Grand  Master  of  Ceremonies,  and 
his  Baroness,  having  been  told  off  as  the  fair 
heroine's  escort  home. 

At  another  time,  it  might  have  amused  the 
mischief-loving  Sylvia  to  see  Baroness  von 
Lynar's  surprise  at  learning  her  identity  with 
the  Miss  de  Courcy,  of  whom  she  had  heard 
from  Lady  West.  All  the  letters  of  introduction 
had  reached  their  destination,  it  only  remaining 
(according  to  Rhaetian  etiquette  in  such  matters) 
for  Lady  de  Courcy  to  announce  her  arrival  in 
Salzbriick  by  sending  cards.  But  Sylvia  had 
no  thought  for  mischief  now.  She  had  been  on 
the  point  of  forgetting,  until  reminded  by  neces 
sity,  that  she  was  only  a  masquerader,  acting 
her  borrowed  part  in  a  pageant.  For  the  first 
time  since  she  had  voluntarily  taken  it  up,  that 
part  became  distasteful.  She  would  have  given 
much  to  throw  it  off,  like  a  discarded  garment, 
and  be  herself  again.  Nothing  less  than  abso 
lute  sincerity  seemed  worthy  of  this  day  and  its 
event. 

But  in  the  vulgar  language  of  proverb,  which 


104   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

no  well-brought-up  Princess  should  ever  use, 
she  had  made  her  bed,  and  she  must  lie  in  it.  It 
would  never  do  for  her  to  suddenly  announce 
that  she  was  not  Miss  de  Courcy,  but  Princess 
Sylvia  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald.  That  would  not 
now  be  fair  to  her  mother  nor  to  herself;  above 
all,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  the  Emperor,  handi 
capped  by  his  debt  of  gratitude.  Miss  de 
Courcy  she  was,  and  Miss  de  Courcy  she  must 
for  the  present  remain. 

Naturally,  the  Grand  Duchess  fainted  when 
her  daughter  was  brought  back  to  her,  bleeding. 
But  the  wound  in  the  round  white  arm  was  not 
deep.  The  Court  physician  was  both  consoling 
and  complimentary,  and  by  the  time  that  mes 
sengers  from  the  palace  had  arrived  with  inquir 
ies  from  the  Emperor  and  invitations  to  the 
Emperor's  ball,  the  heroine's  mother  could 
dispense  with  her  sal  volatile. 

She  had  fortunately  much  to  think  of.  There 
was  the  important  question  of  dress  (since  the 
ball  was  for  the  following  night);  there  was 
the  still  more  pressing  question  of  the  news 
papers,  which  must  not  be  allowed  to  learn  or 


THE  HONOURS  OF  THE  DAY  105 

publish  the  borrowed  name  of  de  Courcy,  lest 
complications  should  arise;  and  there  were  the 
questions  which  had  to  be  asked  of  Sylvia. 
How  had  she  felt  ?  How  had  she  dared?  How 
had  the  Emperor  looked,  and  what  had  the 
Emperor  said?  If  it  had  been  natural  for  the 
Grand  Duchess  to  faint,  it  was  equally  natural 
that  she  should  not  faint  twice.  She  began  to 
see,  after  all,  the  hand  of  Providence  in  her 
daughter's  prank.  And  she  wondered  whether 
Sylvia's  white  satin  with  seed  pearls  or  the  gold- 
spangled  blue  tulle  would  be  more  becoming 
for  the  ball. 

Next  day  the  papers  were  full  of  the  dastardly 
attack  upon  the  Emperor  by  a  French  anarchist, 
who  had  disguised  himself  as  an  employee  in 
the  official  household  of  the  Burgomaster, 
trusting  to  the  abstraction  of  the  crowd  at  the 
last  moment  before  the  ceremonies,  for  passing 
undiscovered  and  accomplishing  his  murderous 
design.  There  were  columns  devoted  to  praise 
of  the  extraordinary  courage  and  beauty  of  the 
young  English  lady,  who,  with  marvellous 
presence  of  mind,  had  sprung  between  the 


106    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Emperor  and  his  would-be  assassin,  receiving 
on  her  own  arm  the  blow  intended  for  the  Imper 
ial  breast.  But,  thanks  to  a  few  earnestly 
imploring  words  spoken  in  Baron  von  Lynar's 
ear,  commands  given  to  the  "Besitzer"  of  the 
hotel,  and  the  fact  that  Rhaetian  editors  are  not 
yet  permitted  a  wholly  free  hand,  the  young 
English  lady  was  not  named.  She  was  a  stran 
ger;  she  was,  according  to  the  papers,  "as  yet 
unknown." 


CHAPTER  VII 

TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE 

NOT  a  window  of  the  fourteenth-century 
yellow  marble  palace,  in  its  famous  "  gar 
den  of  the  nine  fountains,"  that  was  not  ablaze 
with  light,  glittering  against  a  far,  dark  back 
ground  of  snow-capped  mountains.  From  afar, 
the  crowd  who  might  not  pass  the  carved  lions 
or  the  statuesque  sentinels  at  the  gates,  stared, 
and  pointed,  and  exclaimed,  without  jealousy 
of  their  betters.  "Unser  Max"  was  giving  a 
ball;  it  was  for  them  to  watch  the  glittering 
line  of  state  coaches  and  neat  closed  carriages 
that  passed  in  and  out  —  striving  for  a  peep  at 
the  faces,  the  grand  uniforms  and  the  jewelled 
dresses,  commenting,  laughing,  wondering  what 
there  would  be  for  supper  and  with  whom  the 
Emperor  would  dance. 

"There  she  is  —  there's  the  beautiful  young 
lady  who  saved  him!     Isn't  she  like  an  angel  ?" 

107 


108    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

cried  a  girl  in  the  throng.  Up  went  a  hearty 
cheer,  and  the  police  had  to  keep  back  the  good- 
natured  flock  that  would  have  stopped  the  horses 
and  pressed  forward  for  a  long  look  into  a  plain 
dark  green  brougham.  Sylvia  shrank  out  of  sight 
against  the  cushions,  blushing  and  breathing 
quickly,  as  she  pressed  her  mother's  hand. 

"Dear  people  —  dear,  kind  people,"  she 
thought.  "I  love  them  for  loving  him." 

She  had  chosen  to  wear  the  white  dress, 
though  up  to  the  last  minute  her  mother  had 
hesitated  between  the  rival  merits  of  seed  pearls 
and  gold  spangles;  and  her  beautiful  face  was 
as  white  as  her  gown,  as  the  two  ladies  passed 
between  bowing  lackeys  into  the  palace,  through 
the  great  marble  hall,  on  through  the  Rittersaal, 
to  the  throne-room,  where  the  Emperor's  guests 
awaited  his  coming. 

It  was  etiquette  for  no  one  to  arrive  later  than 
ten  o'clock;  and  five  minutes  after  that  hour, 
Baron  von  Lynar,  in  his  official  capacity  as 
Grand  Master  of  Ceremonies,  struck  the  floor 
thrice  with  his  ivory  gold-knobbed  wand.  This 
signified  the  approach  of  the  Court  from  the 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  109 

Imperial  dinner  party,  and  Maximilian  entered, 
with  a  singularly  plain  Russian  Royal  Highness 
on  his  arm. 

Until  the  moment  of  his  arrival  the  lovely 
stranger  (admitted  here  by  virtue  of  her  service 
to  the  Emperor)  had  held  all  eyes:  and  even 
when  he  appeared  she  was  not  forgotten.  Every 
one  wished  to  see  how  she  would  be  greeted  by 
a  grateful  monarch. 

The  instant  that  his  proud  head  —  towering 
above  most  others  -  -  was  seen  in  the  throne- 
room,  it  was  observed,  even  by  the  unobservant, 
that  never  had  Maximilian  been  so  handsome. 
His  was  a  face  notable  for  strength  and  intellect 
rather  than  any  conventional  beauty  of  feature; 
but  to-night  the  stern  lines  that  sometimes 
marred  his  forehead  were  smoothed  away.  He 
looked  young,  almost  boyish;  there  was  an  eager 
light  in  his  dark  eyes,  and  he  gave  the  impression 
of  a  man  who  had  suddenly  found  a  new  interest 
in  life. 

He  danced  the  first  dance  with  the  Russian 
Royalty,  who  was  the  most  important  guest  of 
the  evening,  and,  still  rigidly  adhering  to  the  line 


110   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

of  duty  (which  obtains  in  Court  ballrooms  as  on 
battlefields),  the  second,  third,  and  fourth 
dances  were  for  Maximilian  penances  rather  than 
pleasures.  But  for  the  fifth  —  a  waltz  —  he 
bowed  low  before  Sylvia. 

Not  a  movement,  scarcely  a  smile  or  a  glance 
of  hers  that  he  had  not  seen,  since  his  eyes  first 
sought  and  found  her,  on  the  moment  of  his 
entrance.  He  had  noted  how  well  Baron  von 
Lynar  carried  out  his  instructions  regarding  Miss 
de  Courcy;  he  knew  the  partners  who  were 
presented  to  her  for  each  dance,  and  to  save  his 
life  or  a  national  crisis  he  could  not  have  worn 
the  same  expression  in  asking  the  Russian  for 
a  waltz  as  that  which  brightened  his  face  in 
approaching  Sylvia. 

"Who  is  that  girl?"  inquired  Count  von 
Markstein  in  his  usual  gruff  manner,  as  the  arm  of 
Maximilian  circled  the  slim  waist  and  the  eyes 
of  Maximilian  rested  on  a  radiant  countenance 
upturned  to  his. 

It  was  of  Baroness  von  Lynar  that  the 
Chancellor  asked  his  question,  and  she  fluttered 
a  diamond-spangled  fan  to  hide  smiling  lips,  as 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  111 

she  answered,  "  What,  Chancellor  —  are  you  in 
jest,  or  do  you  really  not  know?" 

Count  von  Markstein  turned  his  cold  eyes 
from  the  two  figures,  so  close  together,  moving 
rhythmically  as  poetry  -  -  to  the  face  of  the 
middle-aged  beauty.  Once  he  had  admired  her 
as  much  as  it  was  in  his  nature  to  admire  any 
woman;  but  that  day  was  long  past,  and  now 
such  power  as  she  had  left  over  him  was  merely 
to  excite  a  feeling  of  irritation. 

"I  do  not  often  jest,"  he  answered  slowly. 

"Ah,  we  all  know  that  truly  great  men  have 
seldom  a  sense  of  humour, "  purred  the  Baroness, 
who  was  by  birth  an  Austrian,  and  loved  laughter 
better  than  anything  else  in  the  word  —  except 
her  vanishing  beauty.  "I  should  have  remem 
bered,  and  not  tried  your  patience.  'That  girl/ 
as  you  somewhat  brusquely  call  her,  is  the 
English  Miss  de  Courcy,  whose  mother  has  come 
o  Salzbriick  armed  with  such  sheaves  of  intro 
ductions  to  us  all.  And  she  it  is  who  yesterday 
saved  the  most  valued  life  in  the  Empire.  They 
are  staying  at  the  Hohenburgerhof;  I  thought 
you  must  have  known." 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  did  not  see  the  young  lady's  face  yester 
day,"  returned  the  Chancellor,  whose  indif 
ference  to  women  and  merciless  justice  to  both 
sexes  alike  had  early  earned  him  the  sobriquet  of 
"Iron  Heart."  "As  for  what  this  girl  did,  if 
it  had  not  been  she  who  intervened,  it  would 
have  been  another.  It  was  merely  by  a  chance 
that  her  arm  struck  up  the  weapon  first." 

"Do  you  not  think,  then,  that  His  Majesty 
does  right  to  single  her  out  for  so  much  honour  ?  " 
Baroness  von  Lynar's  eyes  were  on  the  dancers, 
yet  that  mysterious  skill  which  some  women 
have,  enabled  her  to  see  the  slightest  change 
of  expression  on  the  Chancellor's  square,  lined 
countenance. 

"His  Majesty  could  not  do  otherwise,"  he 
replied.  "An  invitation  to  a  ball;  a  dance  or 
two;  a  call  to  pay  his  respects;  a  gentleman 
could  not  be  less  gracious.  And  His  Majesty 
is  a  most  chivalrous  gentleman." 

"He  has  had  good  training."  This  with  a 
smile  and  the  dainty  ghost  of  a  bow  to  the  man 
who  had  been  as  a  second  father  to  Maximilian, 
when  his  own  father  had  died.  "But  —  we  are 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  113 

old  friends,  Chancellor"  (it  had  not  been  her  fault 
that  they  were  not  more,  in  the  days  before  she 
was  Baroness  von  Lynar);  "do  you  really  think 
it  will  end  with  an  invitation,  a  dance,  and  a  call  ? 
Look  at  the  girl's  face,  and  tell  me  that  ?" 

Old  "Iron  Heart"  frowned  and  glared,  and 
wondered  what  he  had  seen  twenty  years  ago  to 
admire  in  this  woman.  He  would  have  escaped 
if  he  could,  but  he  would  not  be  openly  rude  to 
the  wife  of  the  Grand  Master  of  Ceremonies; 
and  besides,  he  was  willing  perhaps  to  show  the 
lady  that  her  innuendoes  were  as  the  buzzing 
of  a  fly  about  his  ears. 

"  I  am  half-way  between  sixty  and  seventy,  and 
no  longer  a  judge  of  a  woman's  attractions,"  he 
retorted.  "Even  were  she  Helen  herself,  the 
invitation,  the  dance,  and  the  call  —  with  the  pres 
ent  of  some  jewelled  souvenir,  perhaps  —  are  all 
that  are  permissible  in  the  circumstances." 

"What  circumstances?"  was  the  innocent, 
questioning  reply. 

"  The  young  lady  is  not  of  Royal  blood.  And 
His  Majesty  --  thank  God  —  is  not  a  roue." 

"But  he  has  a  heart,  and  he  has  eyes.     He 


114  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

may  never  have  used  them  before.  Yet  there 
must  always  be  a  first  time;  and  the  higher  and 
more  strongly  built  the  tower,  the  greater  the  fall 
thereof." 

"Need  we  discuss  improbabilities,  Baroness 
von  Lynar  ?  Neither  you  nor  I  is  the  Emperor's 
keeper." 

"We  are  his  friends  —  his  most  intimate 
friends.  And  you  and  I  have  known  each  other 
for  twenty  years.  It  amuses  me  to  discuss 
what  you  call  'improbabilities/  Come  —  for 
once,  humour  me,  Chancellor.  Not  for  the 
world  would  I  hint  that  His  Majesty  is  less  than 
an  example  to  all  men,  in  honour:  nor  would  I 
suggest  that  Miss  de  Courcy  could  be  tempted 
to  indiscretion.  But  yet  I'd  be  ready  to  wager 
— -  the  Emperor  being  human  and  the  girl  the 
most  dazzling  of  beauties  —  that  an  acquaint 
ance  so  romantically  begun  will  not  end  with  a 
ball  and  a  call!" 

"What  could  there  possibly  be  more,  madam 
—  in  honour?" 

The  Chancellor's  voice  shook  with  stifled 
anger,  and  he  looked  —  so  thought  his  quondam 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  115 

friend  —  with  his  square  face,  his  wide  nostrils, 
and  his  prominent  eyes  —  delightfully  like  a 
baited  bull.  The  Baroness  von  Lynar  was 
thoroughly  enjoying  herself.  She  well  knew 
the  old  man's  desire  for  the  Emperor's  marriage, 
and,  though  she  was  not  in  the  secret  of  his 
plans,  would  have  felt  little  surprise  at  learning 
that  an  eligible  Empress  had  already  been 
selected.  What  fun  it  was  to  ruffle  the  temper 
of  the  surly  old  bear!  How  much  more  fun  it 
would  be  genuinely  to  alarm  him  for  the  success 
of  his  schemes! 

"What  could  there  be  more?"  she  echoed. 
:<  Why,  they  will  see  much  of  each  other.  There 
will  be  many  dances,  many  calls  —  in  a  word,  a 
serial  romance  instead  of  a  short  story.  Why 
should  His  Majesty  not  know  the  pleasure  of  a 
pure  platonic  friendship  with  a  beautiful  young 
woman?" 

"Because  Plato  is  out  of  fashion,  and,  as  I 
have  said,  the  Emperor  is  a  man  of  honour," 
growled  the  Chancellor.  "Even  if -- which  I 
doubt  —  a  woman  could  deeply  influence  his 
life " 


116    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"You  doubt  that ?  Then  you  don't  know  the 
Emperor!" 

"If  it  were  so,  when  he  felt  the  danger  he 
would  keep  aloof  for  the  woman's  sake.  You  tell 
me  this  English  miss  is  at  a  hotel  in  Salzbriick. 
What  would  be  said  of  her  if  Maximilian  con 
tinually  visited  her  there?  To  meet  her  incog 
nito  would  be  an  insult.  For  the  Emperor  of 
Rhaetia  to  call  upon  a  young  woman  day  after 
day  at  the  Hohenburgerhof  would  bring  a  storm 
of  scandal  about  her  ears.  That  would  be  but 
poor  reward  for  the  woman  who  saved  his  life." 

Baroness  von  Lynar  flushed  faintly,  under  the 
delicate  apology  of  her  rouge.  For  the  fraction 
of  a  second  she  looked  rather  blank,  for  she  had 
insisted  upon  the  argument,  and  it  was  going 
against  her.  She  had  not  stopped  to  view  the 
question  from  every  side,  in  her  haste  to  annoy 
the  Chancellor.  So  far  she  had  only  vexed  him, 
She  owed  him  a  great  deal  more  than  a  petty 
stab  of  vexation  —  a  debt  which  during  twenty 
years,  she  had  been  repaying  in  small  instal 
ments.  If  she  could  prove  her  point  now  —  or 
rather,  if  Maximilian  would  prove  it  for  her,  and 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  117 

she  could  wipe  the  slate  clean  once  and  forever 
from  the  obligations  of  revenge,  it  would  be 
something  to  live  for.  Yet  how  was  that  to  be 
done,  since  Count  von  Markstein  was  in  the 
right  about  his  Imperial  master? 

But  the  wife  of  the  Grand  Master  of  Cere 
monies  was  a  woman  of  resource.  The  cloud 
on  her  still  handsome  face  gradually  lifted,  and 
she  beamed  more  brightly  than  before.  The 
little  pin-point  prick  she  had  inflicted  need  not 
be  an  anti-climax  after  all. 

"Dear  Chancellor,  how  well  you  know  His 
Majesty!"  she  ejaculated.  "If --being  but  a 
young  man,  and  a  hot-blooded  one,  despite  his 
high  principles  and  his  former  indifference  to 
women  —  he  should  not  stop  to  count  the  cost 
for  himself,  you  would  no  doubt  take  advantage 
of  your  warm  friendship  to  remind  him?" 

"I  should  indeed  do  so,"  said  the  Chancellor 
grimly,  "were  there  the  slightest  chance  of  such 
necessity  arising." 

"It  is  but  a  piece  with  your  well-known  integ 
rity  and  courage.  What  a  comfort,  therefore, 
that  the  necessity  is  unlikely  to  arise!" 


118   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

The  old  man  stared  her  in  the  face.  "I  must 
have  misunderstood  you,"  he  sneered.  "J 
thought,  in  your  opinion,  the  opposite  conclusion 
was  foregone?" 

"But"  (and  the  Baroness  smiled  her  most 
charming  smile)  "suppose  that  Lady  de  Courcy 
and  her  daughter  were  not  remaining  at  the 
hotel?" 

The  Chancellor's  cold  eyes  brightened  —  for, 
in  reality,  she  had  given  him  an  uneasy  moment. 
"Ah  —  then  they  are  going  away?" 

"  I  hear, "  returned  Baroness  von  Lynar  slowly, 
pleasantly,  and  distinctly,  "that  they  have  been 
asked  to  the  country  to  visit  one  of  His  Majesty's 
oldest  and  most  intimate  friends." 


Maximilian  was  said  not  to  care  for  dancing, 
though  he  danced  well  —  as  it  was  his  pride  to 
excel  in  everything  worth  doing.  Certainly  there 
was  usually  a  perfunctoriness  about  his  manner 
in  a  ballroom,  a  suggestion  of  a  man  on  duty 
in  his  grave  face,  his  readiness  to  lead  a  partner 
to  her  seat  when  a  dance  was  over. 


TEN  MINUTES5  GRACE  119 

But  to-night!  The  white  arm  on  his  —  the 
girlish  arm  that  had  been  firm  as  a  man's  in  his 
defense;  the  perfume  of  her  hair,  and  the 
glamour  of  the  light  upon  it;  the  beating  of  her 
heart  near  his  as  they  danced  (or  did  he  only 
fancy  that  he  felt  it  ?) ;  the  glory  of  her  eyes, 
when  they  were  lifted  from  a  wonder-shadow 
of  lashes;  the  lissom  grace  of  her  girlhood,  so 
childlike,  so  suggestive  of  spring,  contrasting 
with  the  voluptuous  summer  of  Rhaetian  types 
of  beauty;  the  rose  flush  that  spread  and  spread 
from  her  cheeks  to  the  Madonna  arch  of  her 
brows,  as  he  looked,  because  he  could  not  help 
looking!  To-night  was  different  from  any  other 
night,  because  she  was  different  from  any  other 
woman ;  Maximilian  fancied  that  an  accident  had 
befallen  the  musicians  when  the  music  for  that 
waltz  came  suddenly,  as  it  seemed,  to  an  end. 

At  the  Rhaetian  Court  there  was  always  a 
stately  interval  of  ten  minutes  after  each  dance. 
But  what  are  ten  minutes  to  a  man  who  has  things 
to  say  which  could  not  be  said  in  ten  hours  ? 

They  had  hardly  spoken  yet  —  since  the  day 
on  the  mountain ;  and,  at  this  moment,  each  was 


120   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

wondering  whether  or  no  the  memory  of  that  day 
should  be  ignored.  Maximilian  did  not  intend 
to  speak  of  it;  Sylvia  did  not  intend  to  speak  of 
it.  But,  then,  how  few  matters  turn  out  as 
people  plan! 

Next  to  the  throne-room  was  the  ballroom; 
and  beyond  was  another  called  the  "  Waldsaal." 
Maximilian  had  had  this  fitted  up  for  his  own 
pleasure;  and  it  was  named  the  "Waldsaal" 
because  it  represented  a  forest.  Walls  and 
ceiling  were  skilfully  covered  with  thickly  grow 
ing  creepers,  trained  over  invisible  wires,  through 
which  peeped  stars  of  electric  light,  like  the 
chequers  of  sunshine  that  stray  between  netted 
branches.  There  were  realistic  grottoes  of  dark 
rock,  growing  trees  planted  in  huge  boxes  hidden 
by  ivy;  while  here  and  there,  out  of  shadowed 
corners,  glared  the  glassy  eyes  of  birds  and 
animals  —  eagles,  bears,  stags,  and  chamois  - 
that  the  Emperor  had  shot.  This  room,  so  vast 
as  to  appear  empty  when  dozens  of  people 
wandered  under  its  trees  and  among  its  rock 
grottoes,  was  thrown  open  to  the  dancers  when 
ever  a  ball  was  given  at  the  palace;  and,  because 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  121 

of  its  novel  and  curious  effect,  it  was  more 
popular  than  the  conservatories  and  palm- 
houses.  It  was  here  that  Maximilian  led  Sylvia 
after  their  waltz ;  and  as  she  laid  her  hand  upon 
his  arm,  an  almost  overmastering  desire  seized 
him  to  kiss  the  long  white  glove,  upon  the 
wound  she  had  received  for  him. 

"This  is  a  madness,"  he  said  to  himself.  "It 
must  pass."  And  aloud,  meaning  to  say  some 
thing  else  —  something  courteous  and  common 
place,  he  exclaimed,  "Why  did  you  do  it?" 

Sylvia  glanced  up  at  him  in  surprise. 

"I  don't  understand."  And  then,  in  an 
instant,  well-nigh  before  the  words  were  out,  she 
did  understand.  She  knew  that  he  had  not 
intended  to  ask  the  question ;  but,  having  spoken, 
it  was  characteristic  of  him  to  stand  by  his  guns. 

"I  mean — the  thing  I  shall  have  to  thank 
you  for  always,"  he  replied. 

If  Sylvia  had  been  given  time  to  think,  she 
might  have  prepared  an  answer.  But  given  no 
time,  she  told  only  the  bald  truth.  "I  couldn't 
help  it." 

He    looked    straight    into    her    eyes.     "You 


122   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

couldn't  help  risking  your  life  to  -  He 

did  not  finish. 

"It  was  to  save "  Her  words  also  died 

incomplete. 

Then  it  was  that  he  forgot  various  restrictions 
of  etiquette  which  an  Emperor,  in  conversing 
with  a  commoner  —  be  the  commoner  man  or 
woman  —  is  not  supposed  to  neglect. 

For  one  thing,  his  voice  grew  unsteady,  and 
his  tone  was  eager  as  that  of  some  ineligible 
subaltern  with  the  girl  of  his  first  love. 

"There  is  something  I  should  like  to  show 
you,"  he  said.  Opening  a  button  of  the  military 
coat,  blazing  with  jewels  and  orders,  he  drew  out 
a  loop  of  thin  gold  chain.  At  the  end  dangled 
some  small  object  that  flashed  under  a  star  of 
electric  light. 

"My  ring!"  exclaimed  Sylvia  in  a  breathless 
whisper. 

Thus  perished  the  Emperor's  intention  to 
ignore  the  day  that  had  been  theirs  in  the  past. 

"Your ring.  You  gave  it  to  Max;  he  has  kept 
it.  He  will  always  keep  it.  Are  you  surprised?" 

Sylvia  wished  to  say  "Yes,"  but  instead  she 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  123 

answered  "  No,"  because  pretty  fibs  require  prep 
aration;  it  is  only  the  truth  that  speaks  itself. 

"You  are  not  ?  Then  -  -  you  guessed,  yester 
day?" 

"I  knew  -  -  at  Heiligengelt.  But  I  wish  I 
need  not  tell  you." 

Silence  between  them  for  a  moment,  while 
Maximilian  digested  her  answer,  slowly  realizing 
what  it  meant.  He  remembered  the  bread  and 
ham;  the  cow,  and  the  rucksacks;  he  remem 
bered  everything  —  and  laughed  out,  boyishly. 

"You  knew,  at  Heiligengelt!  But  not  on  the 
mountain  when  - 

"Yes,  I  knew  even  then.     It  was  only  a  chance 

-  the  same  adventure  might  have  happened  to 
hundreds  of  people  without  their  guessing.     But 
I  had  —  happened  to  hear  that  you  went  there 
sometimes,  and  I  had  seen  many  of  your  pictures 

-  so,  when  I  met  a  man,  I  —  oh,  I  wish  you  had 
not  asked  me!" 

"Why?" 

"  Because  —  one  might  have  to  be  afraid  of  an 
Emperor  if  he  were  angry." 
"Do  I  look  angry?" 


124   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Their  eyes  met,  and  dwelt,  laughing  at  first, 
then  probing  unexpected  depths  which  drove 
away  all  thought  of  laughter.  Something  that 
seemed  alive  and  independent  of  control  leaped 
in  Maximilian's  breast.  He  shut  his  lips  tightly. 
Both  forgot  that  a  question  had  been  asked, 
though  it  was  Sylvia  who  spoke  first  —  since  it 
is  easier  for  a  woman  than  for  a  man  to  hide 
feeling  behind  conventionality. 

"I  wonder  you  kept  the  ring  after  —  all  my 
rudeness." 

"I  had  a  special  reason  for  keeping  the  ring," 

"Will  you  tell  it  me?" 

"You  are  quick  at  forming  conclusions,  Miss 
de  Courcy.  Can't  you  guess  ?  " 

"To  remind  you  never  to  help  strange  young 
women  on  mountains?" 

"No  — not  for  that." 

"I  am  not  to  ask  the  reason?" 

"On  that  day  you  asked  what  you  chose. 
All  the  more  should  you  do  so  now,  since  there  is 
nothing  I  could  refuse  you." 

"Not  the  half  of  your  kingdom  —  like  the 
Royal  men  in  fairy  stories?" 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  125 

The  light  words  struck  a  chord  they  had  not 
aimed  to  touch.  They  went  echoing  on  and  on, 
till  they  reached  that  inner  part  of  himself  which 
the  Emperor  knew  least  --  his  heart.  Half  his 
kingdom?  Yes,  he  would  give  it  to  her,  if  he 
could.  Heavens!  what  such  a  partnership 
would  be! 

"Ask  anything  you  will,"  he  said,  as  a  man 
speaks  in  a  dream. 

"Then  tell  me  --  why  you  kept  the  ring?" 

"Because  the  only  woman  I  ever  cared  —  to 
make  my  friend,  took  it  from  her  finger  and  gave 
it  to  me." 

"Now  the  Emperor  is  pleased  to  pay  com 
pliments." 

"You  don't  think  that,  really?     You  know  I 


am  sincere." 


"But  you  had  only  seen  me  for  an  hour. 
Instead  of  meriting  your  friendship,  I  had,  on 
the  contrary  - 

"For  one  hour  ?  How  long  ago  is  that  hour  ? 
A  week  or  so,  I  suppose  —  as  time  counts. 
But  then  came  yesterday,  and  the  thing  you  did 
for  me.  Now  I  have  known  you  always." 


126   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"If  you  had,  perhaps  you  would  not  want  me 
for  your  friend.' 

"I  do  want  you." 

The  words  would  come.  It  was  true  — 
already  true.  He  did  want  her.  But  not  only 
as  a  friend.  His  world,  a  world  without  women 
or  passion  ardent  enough  to  eclipse  principles, 
was  upside  down. 

It  was  well  that  the  ten  minutes'  grace  between 
dances  was  over,  the  music  for  the  next  about  to 
begin.  A  young  officer,  Count  von  Markstein's 
half-brother,  who  was  to  be  Sylvia's  partner, 
came  toward  her,  then  stepped  back,  seeing  that 
she  was  with  the  Emperor.  But  Maximilian 
permitted  his  approach,  with  a  gesture. 

"Good-bye,"  said  Sylvia,  while  her  words 
could  still  only  be  heard  by  the  ears  for  which 
they  were  intended. 

"Not  good-bye  -  -we  are  to  be  friends." 
'  Yes,  in  heart.   But — we  shall  not  often  meet." 

"Are  you  going  from  Salzbriick  soon,  then?" 

"Perhaps." 

"I  must  see  you.  I  will  see  you  —  once  more, 
whatever  comes!" 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  127 

"Yes.     Once  more,  but  - 
"After  that-    -" 

:<Who    knows  —  Captain    von    Markstein  — 
Yes,  it  is  our  dance." 


"Once  more --once  more!"  The  words 
lingered  in  Sylvia's  ears.  She  heard  them 
through  everything,  as  one  hears  the  undertone 
of  a  mountain  torrent,  though  a  brass  band 
brays  out  some  martial  air  to  drown  its  music. 

Once  more  he  would  see  her.  She  could  guess 
why  it  might  be  only  once,  even  if  he  would  fain 
have  had  it  more.  This  game  of  hers,  begun 
with  such  a  light  heart,  was  more  difficult  to 
play  than  she  had  dreamed.  If  she  could 
but  be  sure  he  cared;  if  he  would  tell  her 
this,  in  words,  the  rest  might  be  easy; 
though,  even  so,  she  did  not  quite  see  how 
the  end  should  come.  Yet  how,  in  honour, 
could  he  tell  her  that  he  cared?  While,  if 
he  told  her  in  any  other  way,  how  could  she 
bear  her  life?  "Once  more!"  What  would 
happen  in  that  once  more?  Surely  nothing 


128   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

but  a  repetition  of  grateful  thanks  and  courteous 
words,  equivalent  to  farewell. 

To  be  sure,  Miss  de  Courcy  and  her  mother 
might  go  away,  and  the  negotiations  between  the 
Emperor's  advisers  and  the  Grand  Duchess  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald  for  her  daughter's  hand  could 
be  allowed  to  continue,  as  if  no  outside  influence 
had  ruffled  the  peaceful  current  of  events. 
Then,  in  the  end,  a  surprise  would  come  for 
Maximilian;  wilful  Princess  Sylvia  would  have 
had  her  little  romance,  and  all  might  be  said  to 
end  well.  But  something  within  Sylvia's  fast- 
beating  heart  refused  to  be  satisfied  with  so 
comparatively  tame  a  last  chapter,  a  finis  so 
obvious.  She  had  tasted  a  sweet,  stimulating 
draught  —  she  who  had  been  brought  carefully 
up  on  milk  and  water  —  and  she  was  loth  to  put 
the  cup  down,  still  half-full  and  sparkling. 

"Once  more!"  If  only  that  once  could  be 
magnified  into  many  times;  if  she  could  have  her 
chance  —  her  "fling,"  like  other  girls! 

So  she  was  thinking  in  the  carriage,  by  her 
mother's  side,  driving  back  to  the  Hohen- 
burgerhof  from  the  palace;  and  the  Grand 


TEN  MINUTES'  GRACE  129 

Duchess  was  forced  to  speak  twice  before  her 
daughter  became  aware  that  silence  had  been 
broken. 

"I  forgot  to  tell  you  something,  Sylvia." 

"Ye-es,   mother?" 

"Your  great  success  has  made  me  absent- 
minded,  child.  You  looked  like  a  shining  white 
lily  among  all  those  handsome,  overblown  Rhae- 
tian  women." 

"  Thank  you,  dear.  Was  that  what  you  forgot 
to  say?" 

"Oh,  no!  It  was  this.  The  Baroness  von 
Lynar  has  been  most  kind.  She  urges  us  to  give 
up  our  rooms  at  the  hotel,  on  the  first  of  the  week, 
and  join  her  house  party  at  Schloss  Lynarberg. 
It  is  only  a  few  miles  out  of  town.  What  do 
you  think  of  the  plan?" 

"  Leave  —  Salzbriick  ?  " 

"  She  has  asked  a  number  of  friends  —  to  meet 
the  Emperor." 

"Oh!  He  did  not  speak  of  it  —  when  we 
danced." 

"But  she  has  mentioned  it  to  him  since, 
no  doubt  —  before  giving  me  the  invitation. 


130   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Intimate  friend  of  his  as  she  is,  she  would  not 
dare  ask  people  to  meet  him,  if  he  had  not  first 
sanctioned  the  suggestion.  Still,  she  can  afford 
to  be  more  or  less  informal.  The  Baroness  was 
dancing  with  the  Emperor,  I  remember  now, 
just  before  she  came  to  me.  They  were  talking 
together  quite  earnestly.  I  can  recall  the 
expression  of  his  face." 

"Was  it  pleased,  or- 

"I  was  wondering  what  she  had  said  to  make 
him  look  so  happy.  Perhaps  — 

:tWhat  answer  did  you  give  Baroness  von 
Lynar?" 

"  I  told  her  —  I  thought  you  wouldn't  mind  — 
I  told  her  that  we  would  go." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN 

SCHLOSS  LYNARBERG  stands  high  on  a 
promontory  overlooking  a  lake,  half  a 
dozen  miles  to  the  south  of  Salzbrlick.  The 
castle  is  modern,  with  pointed  turrets  and  fretted 
minarets,  and,  being  built  of  marble,  throws  a 
dazzling  reflection,  like  a  great  submerged  swan, 
into  the  blue  waters  of  the  Kaisersee.  Everything 
about  the  place,  from  its  tropical  gardens  to  its 
terraced  roofs,  suggests  luxury,  gaiety,  pleasure. 
On  the  opposite  bank  of  the  lake  frowns  the 
ancient  fortified  stronghold  of  the  Counts  von 
Markstein,  squatting  on  its  rocky  base  like  a 
huge  black  dragon  on  the  coils  of  its  own  tail. 
Its  small,  deepset  windows  glare  across  the  bright 
waters  at  the  white  splendour  of  Lynarberg,  like 
the  jealous  eyes  of  the  monster  waiting  its  chance 
to  spring  upon  and  devour  a  beautiful  young 
maiden. 

131 


132   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

The  moods  of  Baroness  von  Lynar,  regarding 
dark  old  Schloss  Markstein,  had  varied  during 
her  residence  by  the  lake.  Sometimes  she 
pleased  herself  by  reflecting  that  the  man  who 
had  slighted  her  lived  in  less  luxury  than  she  had 
made  her  own.  Again,  the  thought  that  "the 
old  bear"  could  crouch  in  his  den  and  observe 
all  that  went  on  at  Lynarberg,  got  upon  her 
nerves.  She  could  have  shrieked  and  shaken 
her  fist  at  the  huddled  mass  of  stone  across  the 
water.  But,  during  the  first  days  of  the  Em 
peror's  visit  at  her  house,  she  often  glanced 
at  the  grim  outlines  of  the  castle,  and  smiled. 

"Can  you  see,  old  bear?"  she  would  say  to 
herself.  "Are  you  watching,  over  there?  Do 
you  guess  now  who  is  responsible  for  the  growth 
of  this  love-flower  you'd  stick  your  claws  into 
and  tear,  if  you  could?  But  you  can't,  you 
know.  There's  nothing  you  can  do  —  nothing 
but  sit  there  and  growl,  and  realize  that  you've 
been  outwitted  for  once  —  by  a  woman,  too. 
How  do  you  like  the  prospect,  old  bear?  Do 
you  lie  awake  at  night  and  wonder  what's  to 
become  of  your  fine  schemes  for  the  Emperor's 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  133 

marriage?  After  all,  there  are  some  things 
which  can  be  done  by  a  woman  with  tact  and 
money,  pleasant  houses  and  an  easy-going 
husband,  that  the  cleverest  statesman  can't  undo. 
Will  you  admit  so  much  at  last,  old  grisly  one?" 
Thus  the  Baroness  would  amuse  herself  at  odd 
moments,  when  she  was  not  busily  arranging 
original  and  elaborate  entertainments  for  her 
guests.  And  she  rejoiced  especially  at  having 
had  the  forethought  to  invite  Otto  von  Mark- 
stein,  the  Chancellor's  half-brother.  There  was 
a  barrier  of  nearly  thirty-five  years'  difference  in 
age  between  the  two  men,  and  they  had  n^ver 
been  friends,  for  the  elder  was  temperamentally 
unable  to  sympathize  with  the  tastes  or  under 
stand  the  temptations  of  the  younger.  But  it 
was  whispered  at  Court  that  the  Chancellor  had 
more  than  once  used  the  gay  and  popular  cap 
tain  of  cavalry  for  a  cat's-paw,  in  pulling  some 
very  big  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire,  and  that  he 
would  do  the  same  again,  if  occasion  arose. 
" Handsome  Otto"  -so  known  among  his 
admirers  -  -  "  The  Chancellor's  Jackal"  -  thus 
nicknamed  by  his  enemies  --  would  have  found 


134   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

difficulty  in  keeping  up  appearances  without  the 
allowance  granted  by  his  brother.  The  ill- 
assorted  pair  were  often  in  communication,  and 
the  Baroness  liked  to  think  that  news  fresh  from 
Lynarberg  must  sooner  or  later  be  wafted  across 
the  water  to  Markstein.  "Iron  Heart"  would 
hear  of  that  which  his  iron  hand  was  powerless 
to  crush;  and  the  old  bear  would  be  ready  to 
devour  himself  in  impotent  fury. 

Therefore  she  was  not  surprised,  when  the 
Emperor  had  been  for  two  days  at  Lynarberg, 
and  there  were  still  three  more  of  his  visit  to 
run,  that  an  urgent  letter  should  arrive  for 
Captain  von  Markstein  from  the  Chancellor. 

Poor  old  Eberhard  was  wrestling  with  his 
enemy,  gout,  it  appeared,  and  desired  Otto's 
immediate  presence.  Such  a  summons  could 
not  be  neglected;  Otto's  whole  future  depended 
on  his  brother's  caprice,  he  hinted  to  the  Baron 
ess,  in  asking  leave  to  desert  her  pleasant  party 
for  a  few  hours.  And  she  had  sent  the  Chan 
cellor  her  regards,  regretting  his  indisposition; 
and  Otto  had  been  charged  with  a  friendly 
message  from  the  Emperor  as  well.  When  he 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  135 

had  driven  off  in  one  of  the  Lynarberg  carriages, 
promising  to  be  back  in  time  for  dinner  and  a 
concert  in  the  evening,  the  Baroness  spent  all 
her  energies  in  getting  up  an  impromptu  riding 
party,  which  would  afford  Maximilian  the  chance 
of  another  tete-a-tete  with  Miss  de  Courcy. 

Already  many  such  had  been  arranged, 
apparently  without  giving  rise  to  gossip;  and  if 
the  flirtation  (which  was  to  disgust  Maximilian 
with  his  Chancellor's  matrimonial  projects)  did 
not  progress  with  startling  rapidity,  it  would  not 
be  the  fault  of  an  accommodating  hostess. 

"Otto  has  been  bidden  to  use  his  eyes  and 
ears  at  my  house,  and  now  he  is  called  upon  to 
hand  in  his  report,"  she  said  to  herself,  when  her 
guest  had  departed  on  his  errand  of  compassion. 
But,  for  once  at  least  in  his  career,  the  "  Chan 
cellor's  Jackal"  was  wronged  by  unjust  sus 
picions.  He  arrived  at  Markstein  ignorant  of 
his  brother's  motive  in  sending,  though  he  did 
not  for  an  instant  believe  it  to  be  the  one  alleged. 

The  Chancellor  was  in  his  dark,  octagonal 
study,  reading  a  budget  of  letters,  when  Otto  was 
announced.  If  he  were  ill,  he  did  not  show  his 


136    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

suffering.  His  square  face,  with  its  beetling 
brows,  its  domelike  forehead,  was  graven  with 
no  deeper  lines,  looked  no  more  like  a  mask  of 
carved  mahogany,  than  usual. 

"Sit  down,"  he  said  gruffly,  flinging  aside  an 
envelope  postmarked  Abruzzia.  "I  shall  be 
ready  to  talk  with  you  in  a  minute." 

Otto  took  the  least  uncomfortable  chair  in  the 
room  —  which  was  saying  but  little  in  its  favour, 
as  the  newest  article  of  furniture  there  had  been 
made  a  hundred  years  before  the  world  under 
stood  the  luxury  of  lounging.  Over  the  high  man 
tel  hung  a  silver  shield,  so  brightly  polished  as  to 
perform  the  office  of  a  mirror.  From  where 
Otto  sat,  rigid  and  upright,  he  could  see  himself 
vignetted  in  reflection.  He  admired  his  com 
plexion,  which  was  like  a  girl's;  pointed  the  ends 
of  his  fair  moustache  with  nervous  cigarette- 
stained  fingers  and  wondered  ruefully  which  of 
his  pleasant  peccadilloes  had  buzzed  to  Eber- 
hard's  ears.  Half  unconsciously  his  gaze  turned 
from  his  own  agreeable  image  to  the  outer  page 
of  the  letter,  held  in  a  hand  so  veined  that  it 
resembled  a  surface  of  rock  covered  with  the 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  137 

sprawling  roots  of  old  trees.  Otto  had  just  time 
to  recognize  the  writing  as  that  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Abruzzia,  whom  he  had  met,  when  a 
pair  of  keen  eyes,  curtained  with  wrinkled  lids, 
peered  over  the  crested  sheet  of  paper. 

"  It's  coming,"  thought  Otto.  "  What  can  the 
old  curmudgeon  have  found  out?" 

But,  to  his  surprise,  the  Chancellor's  first  words 
had  no  connection  with  him  or  his  misdeeds. 

"So  Maximilian  is  amusing  himself  at  Lynar- 
berg?"  the  old  man  grunted. 

Otto's  face  visibly  brightened.  He  was  not 
clever  or  full  of  resources,  and  he  would  always 
prefer  discussing  the  affairs  of  others  with  this 
elder  brother,  rather  than  his  own.  "Oh,  yes," 
he  answered  alertly.  "His  Majesty  seems  to  be 
amusing  himself  uncommonly  well.  But  you, 
Eberhard!  Tell  me  of  yourself.  You  sent  for 
me.  Your  gout  - 

"The  devil  run  away  with  my  gout!" 

Otto  started.  "I  devoutly  wish  he  would,  so 
he  left  you  behind,"  he  retorted  —  meaning 
exactly  the  opposite,  as  he  usually  did  when 
talking  with  the  Chancellor.  "But " 


138    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"Don't  tell  me  you  supposed  I  had  sent  for 
you  that  I  might  have  the  pleasure  of  your  con 
dolences?" 

"No-o,"  laughed  Otto.  "I  fancied  there 
was  another  reason ;  but  I  am  bound  in  common 
politeness  to  take  your  sincerity  for  granted  until 
you  undeceive  me." 

"Hang  common  politeness!"  remarked  the 
old  bear  —  or  as  nearly  in  those  words  as  the 
Rhaetian  language  permitted.  "I  sent  for  you 
to  tell  me  what  mischief  that  witch-hawk  Mai- 
vine  von  Lynar  is  hatching.  You  are  on  the 
spot.  You  should  see  everything.  It  will  not 
be  the  worse  for  you  if  for  once  you  have  used 
those  handsome  eyes  of  yours  to  some 
advantage!" 

Otto  was  genuinely  astonished,  as  during  the 
long  drive  he  had  been  carefully  bracing  himself 
against  a  personal  attack.  He  sat  pulling  his 
moustache,  and  was  still  trying  to  remember 
some  striking  incident  with  which  to  adorn  his 
narrative,  when  the  Chancellor  began  again. 

"Has  Maximilian  been  playing  the  fool  at 
Lynarberg  these  last  two  days  ?" 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  139 

"Fool  is  a  strong  word  to  use  in  connection 
with  one's  sovereign,"  smiled  Otto,  recovering 
his  presence  of  mind.  "But  if  by  'playing  the 
fool'  you  mean  falling  in  love,  why,  then, 
brother,  I  should  say  he  had  done  little  else 
during  those  two  days  you  mention." 

"Iron  Heart"  growled  out  a  word  which  he 
would  certainly  not  have  uttered  in  his  Royal 
master's  presence,  especially  in  the  connection 
he  suggested.  "Give  me  a  detailed  account  of 
what  has  been  going  on,  from  beginning  to 
end,"  he  commanded. 

Otto  looked  thoughtful.  This,  then,  explained 
the  sudden  summons.  He  was  to  be  let  off 
easily;  but,  his  suspense  relieved,  he  was  not 
ready  to  be  satisfied  with  purely  negative 
blessings. 

"It  seems  a  little  like  telling  tales  out  of  school, 
doesn't  it?"  he  gently  objected. 

"Schoolboys  with  empty  pockets  do  that 
sometimes,"  sneered  the  Chancellor.  "But  per 
haps  your  pockets  are  not  empty  —  eh?" 

"They  are  in  a  chronic  state  of  emptiness!" 
groaned  Otto. 


140   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"On  the  fifteenth  day  of  October  your 
quarterly  allowance  will  be  paid,"  said  "Iron 
Heart."  "I  would  increase  the  instalment  by 
the  amount  of  five  thousand  gulden,  if  you  took 
pains  to  —  humour  any  whim  of  mine." 

"I  am  always  delighted  to  please  you," 
answered  Otto,  with  alacrity.  "It  is  only 
natural,  living  the  monotonous  life  you  do, 
when  not  busy  with  affairs  of  state,  that  you 
should  care  to  hear  what  goes  on  in  the  world 
outside;  and  I  will  gladly  do  my  best  as  a 
raconteur" 

"Don't  lie,"  said  the  Chancellor.  "The 
habit  is  growing  on  you.  You  lie  to  yourself; 
presently  you  will  believe  yourself,  and  then  all 
hope  for  your  soul  will  be  over.  I  want  to  know 
how  far  Maximilian  has  gone  in  his  infatuation 
for  this  English  girl.  I  am  not  afraid  to  speak 
plainly  to  you,  and  you  can  safely  do  the  same 
with  me.  The  woman  Von  Lynar  attempted 
to  'draw'  me,  as  she  would  have  expressed  it, 
on  this  subject,  and,  by  Heaven,  I'm  ashamed 
to  say  that  she  succeeded.  She  suggested  an 
entanglement;  I  replied  that  Maximilian  was 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  141 

not  the  man  to  rouse  a  hornet-nest  of  gossip 
round  the  ears  of  a  woman  who  had  saved  his 
life.  No  matter  what  his  inclination  might  be, 
he  would  pay  her  no  repeated  visits  at  the 
Hohenburgerhof.  This  thrust  the  Von  Lynar 
parried  —  as  if  repeating  a  mere  rumour  - 
by  remarking  that  she  understood  the  girl  was 
to  stay  at  the  house  of  some  one  among  the 
Emperor's  friends.  I  attached  little  importance 
to  her  chatter,  believing  it  but  a  spiteful  slap 
such  as  it  is  the  tiger-cat's  pleasure  to  deal  those 
she  hates.  For  once  in  her  life,  though,  she  has 
stolen  a  march  upon  me.  The  secret  was  only 
kept  until  too  late  for  me  to  prevent  the  Emperor 
from  fulfilling  his  engagement;  then  I  don't 
doubt  she  was  all  eagerness  that  I  should  hear 
of  her  success." 

"Do  you  think  that,  even  if  you  had  known 
sooner,  you  could  have  prevented  the  Emperor 
from  going  to  Lynarberg?"  inquired  Otto,  with 
thinly  veiled  incredulity.  "If  you  are  iron,  he 
is  steel." 

"I  would  have  prevented  it,"  retorted  the 
Chancellor.  "I  should  have  made  no  bones 


142   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

about  the  reason,  for  I  have  found  that  the  only 
way  with  Maximilian  is  to  tell  him  the  truth,  and 
fight  it  out  —  my  experience  against  his  obstin 
acy.  If  advice  and  warning  had  not  sufficed  to 
keep  him  from  insulting  the  girl  who  is  to  be  his 
wife,  and  injuring  the  reputation  of  the  girl  who 
never  can  be,  I  would  have  devised  some  other 
expedient.  I  am  not  a  man  easily  thwarted." 

"Nor  is  he,"  added  Otto.  "But,  since  you 
seem  so  determined  to  nip  this  blossom  of  love 
in  the  bud,  it  is  not  yet,  we'll  hope,  too  late  for 
frost." 

"I  sent  for  you,"  said  the  Chancellor,  brush 
ing  away  metaphor  with  an  intolerant  gesture, 
"to  show  me  the  exact  spot  on  which  to  lay  a 
finger." 

"And  I  will  try  to  deserve  your  confidence," 
gracefully  responded  the  young  officer.  "  Let  me 
see  where  it  wrill  be  best  to  begin.  Well,  as 
you  know,  it  is  simpler  for  the  Emperor  to  see 
much  of  a  woman  he  favours  wTith  his  regard  in  a 
friend's  house  than  at  the  Hohenburgerhof  or 
any  hotel  in  Rhaetia.  This  particular  woman 
saved  his  life  at  the  risk  of  her  own,  and  it  is 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  143 

so  natural  he  should  wish  to  do  her  honour,  that 
everybody  takes  his  attitude  for  granted.  Miss 
de  Courcy  and  her  mother,  with  several  others 
of  our  party,  had  been  for  some  days  guests  at 
Lynarberg  before  the  Emperor  came,  and  were 
ready  to  receive  him.  The  girl  is  exceptionally 
beautiful,  with  a  winning  manner  which  appeals 
to  women  equally  with  men.  Miss  de  Courcy 
had  her  friends  and  admirers  in  the  house  before 
the  Emperor  arrived;  not  one  of  the  Baroness 
von  Lynar's  guests  incline  to  put  an  evil  con 
struction  on  a  little  flirtation  between  her  and 
Maximilian.  Are  you  sure,  Eberhard,  that  you  are 
not  taking  too  serious  a  view  of  the  matter?" 

"It  cannot  be  regarded  too  seriously,  in  the 
circumstances.  Princesses  are  women,  and  gos 
sip  is  hydra-headed.  When  the  lady  who  has 
been  allowed  to  understand  that  the  Emperor 
only  waits  an  opportunity  of  formally  asking  for 
her  hand  hears  —  as  she  will  hear  —  that  he  has 
seized  this  moment  for  his  first  liaison  with 
another  woman,  neither  she  nor  her  family  are 
likely  to  take  the  news  kindly.  She  is  German; 
on  her  father's  side,  second  cousin  to  Kaiser 


144   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Wilhelm.  She  is  English;  on  her  mother's 
side,  distantly  related  to  Queen  Victoria.  Both 
countries  would  have  reason  to  resent  a  slight." 

"The  little  affair  must  be  hushed  up,"  said 
Otto. 

"It  must  be  stopped,"  said  the  Chancellor. 

"A-ach!"  sighed  the  younger  brother. 
There  was  a  world  of  meaning  in  the  long-drawn 
breath,  if  the  elder  cared  to  read  it. 

At  least,  it  roused  him  to  a  renewed  sense  of 
irritation.  "Go  on,"  he  demanded.  "Go  on 
with  your  sorry  tale." 

"After  all,  when  one  comes  to  the  telling,  there 
isn't  much  that  can  be  put  into  words,"  Otto 
reflected  aloud.  "The  Emperor's  place  at  the 
table  has  naturally  been  beside  the  Baroness. 
For  next  neighbour  she  considerately  gave  him 
Miss  de  Courcy.  It  has  been  noticed  that  they 
have  talked  together  as  much  as  etiquette  to  the 
hostess  allowed,  during  dinner.  Then  —  the 
Emperor  being  an  old  friend  of  the  Von  Lynars, 
accustomed  to  visiting  at  Lynarberg  since  he  was 
a  boy  —  he  took  it  upon  himself  to  show  the 
English  girl  some  of  the  beauties  of  the  place. 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  145 

I  know  that  they  went  alone  together  to  the 
rose-garden,  which  is  famous,  you  remember; 
and  Miss  de  Courcy  came  back  with  her  hands 
full  of  flowers,  doubtless  gathered  for  her  by 
Maximilian.  On  the  evening  of  his  arrival  we 
were  all  out  on  the  lake  in  small  boats.  The 
Emperor  rowed  Miss  de  Courcy  to  the  Isle  of 
Cupid,  to  see  Thorwaldsen's  statue,  and  lesser 
mortals  joined  them  there.  Yesterday,  we  had  a 
picnic  at  the  Seebachfall.  The  Emperor  and 
Miss  de  Courcy  are  both  remarkably  good 
climbers,  and  reached  the  top  long  before  the 
others.  I  was  close  behind,  however,  with  our 
friend  Malvine,  at  starting  from  the  carriages, 
and  I  overheard  some  joke  between  them  about 
a  mountain,  and  a  cow;  the  Emperor  spoke  of 
milking  as  a  'fine  art,'  and  remarked  that  he  had 
lately  learned.  I  could  hear  no  more;  but  it 
struck  me  that  the  two  were  on  terms  of 
camaraderie. 

"Last  night,  there  were  fireworks  on  the  lake 
(perhaps  you  saw  something  of  them  from  your 
windows  ?) ;  the  Emperor  and  Miss  de  Courcy 
watched  them  side  by  side  —  for  everything  was 


146   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

conducted  quite  unconventionally ;  you  know  he 
hates  formality  when  visiting  as  much  as  he  hates 
the  lack  of  it  in  business.  Afterward,  we  had 
an  impromptu  cotillon,  with  several  new  figures 
invented  by  the  Baroness ;  Maximilian  and  Miss 
de  Courcy  danced  often  together.  This  morn 
ing,  we  all  visited  the  stables,  the  kennels,  and 
the  gardens;  the  Emperor  walked  sometimes 
with  the  hostess,  sometimes  with  Miss  de  Courcy. 
This  brings  us  up  to  the  moment  of  my  depart 
ure;  for  the  afternoon,  I  fancy  Malvine  had 
planned  a  ride." 

"The  girl  is  a  fool  and  an  adventuress!"  pro 
nounced  the  Chancellor.  "She  must  know  that 
nothing  can  come  of  such  folly  —  except 
scandal." 

Otto  shrugged  his  stiffly-padded  shoulders. 
"A  woman  in  love  doesn't  stop  to  count  the 
cost!" 

"So!  you  fancy  her  in  'love'  with  the 
Emperor?" 

"With  the  man,  rather  than  the  Emperor,  if  I 
am  a  judge  of  character." 

"Which  you  are  not!"   Old  "Iron  Heart" 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  147 

brusquely  disposed  of  that  suggestion.  'The 
silliest  woman  could  pull  wool  over  your  eyes,  if 
she  cared  to  take  the  trouble." 

"This  one  does  not  care.  She  hardly  knows 
that  I  exist." 

"Humph!"  The  Chancellor  peered  over  his 
gold-bowed  spectacles  at  his  young  brother's 
handsome  face.  "That's  a  pity.  You  might 
have  tried  cutting  Maximilian  out!  You  would 
not  be  a  bad  match  for  an  ambitious  woman, 
with  your  good  looks,  our  position,  and  my 
money." 

"Your  money?" 

"I  mean,  if  I  chose  to  proclaim  you  my  heir. 
I  would  do  that,  if  you  married  to  please  me. 
Who  are  these  De  Courcys?" 

"I  have  not  had  the  curiosity  to  inquire  into 
their  antecedents,"  said  Otto.  "I  only  know 
that  they  are  ladies,  that  they  must  be  persons  of 
consequence  in  their  own  country  (or  they  could 
not  have  got  letters  to  everybody  here  from 
Lady  West),  and  that  the  girl  is  the  handsomest 
creature  living." 

"The    tiger-cat    said    that    Lady    West    was 


148   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

responsible  for  the  mother  and  daughter," 
soliloquized  the  Chancellor  aloud.  "But 
Rhaetia  is  a  long  cry  from  England.  And  letters 
are  forged  sometimes.  I  have  known  such  things 
more  than  once  in  my  experience.  Fetch  me 
a  big  red  volume  you  will  find  on  the  third  shelf 
of  the  bookcase,  in  the  corner  by  the  window 
that  overlooks  the  lake.  The  book  is  'Burke's 
Peerage'!" 

Otto  rose  promptly  to  obey.  He  was  rather 
thoughtful.  His  brother  had  put  a  completely 
new  idea  into  his  head. 

Presently  the  red  volume  was  discovered  and 
laid  open  on  the  desk  before  the  Chancellor,  who 
slowly  turned  to  the  required  page.  As  his  eye 
fell  upon  a  long  line  of  De  Courcys,  his  face 
changed,  and  the  bristling  brows  drew  together 
in  a  straight  line.  At  least,  these  women  did 
not  appear  to  be  adventuresses,  in  the  ordinary 
acceptation  of  the  term. 

There  they  were;  his  square-tipped  finger 
found  and  pressed  down  upon  the  printed  names, 
with  a  dig  that  symbolized  its  disposition  toward 
their  claimants. 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  149 

"The  girl's  mother  is  the  widow  of  Sir 
Thomas,  sixth  Baron  de  Courcy,"  the  Chan 
cellor  mumbled  half -aloud.  "Son,  Thomas 
Alfred  —  um  —  um  —  um  —  twelve  years  old; 
daughter,  Gladys  Irene  Mary  Katherine,  twenty- 
eight.  Humph!  She's  no  chicken;  she  ought 
to  have  better  sense." 

"Twenty -eight!"  echoed  Otto.  "I'll  be 
hanged  if  she's  twenty-eight." 

"She  doesn't  look  it?" 

"Not  a  day  more  than  eighteen.  Might  be 
younger.  I  never  was  so  surprised  to  learn  a 
woman's  age.  By  the  way,  I  heard  her  telling 
Von  Lynar  last  night,  a  propos  of  our  great 
Rhaetian  victory  in  that  month  and  year,  that 
she  was  born  in  June,  '79.  If  so  she  would  now 
have  been  twenty- one.  It  was  difficult  to  believe 
her  even  as  much.  When  she'd  spoken,  I 
remember  she  gave  a  sudden  start  and  blush, 
looking  across  the  room  at  her  mother,  as  though 
she  were  frightened.  I  suppose  she  hoped  there 
was  no  copy  of  this  great  red  book  at  Lynarberg." 

"That  thought  might  have  been  in  her  mind," 
grunted  the  Chancellor,  "or-  He  left  his 


150    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

sentence  unfinished,  and  sat,  with  prominent, 
unseeing  eyes  fixed  in  an  owlish  stare  on  the 
open  page  of  Burke. 

"Did  you  really  mean  what  you  said  a  few 
minutes  ago  about  my  marriage  ?"  Otto  ventured 
to  attract  his  brother's  attention.  "Because  if 
you  did 

"If  I  did --what  then?" 

"I  might  try  —  to  please  you  in  my  choice  of  a 
wife."  ^ 

"Be  more  explicit.  You  mean  you  would 
endeavour  to  show  this  Miss  de  Courcy  that  a 
bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  an  Emperor  in  the 
bush — a  bramble  bush  at  that?" 

'Yes,  I  would  do  my  best.     I  have  —  er  — 
some  advantages." 

"You  have.  And  I  was  on  the  point  of 
suggesting  that  you  should  make  the  most  of 
them  in  her  eyes,  before  —  you  brought  me 
this  book"  The  large  forefinger  tapped  the 
page  of  De  Courcys,  while  two  grim  lines  of 
dogged  purpose  framed  the  Chancellor's  long- 
lipped  mouth. 

"And   now   you've    changed   your    mind?" 


THE  BEAR  IN  HIS  DEN  151 

There  was  a  distinct  note  of  disappointment  in 
"handsome  Otto's"  voice. 

"I  don't  say  that.  I  merely  say,  'Wait.' 
Make  yourself  as  indispensable  to  the  lady  as 
you  choose;  that  is,  on  your  own  responsibility; 
but  don't  pledge  yourself,  and  don't  count  upon 
my  promise  or  my  money,  until  you  hear  again. 
By  that  time  --  well,  we  shall  see  what  we  shall 
see.  Keep  your  hand  in;  but  wait --wait." 

"How  long  am  I  to  wait?  If  the  thing  is  to 
be  done  at  all,  it  must  be  done  soon.  Mean 
while,  the  Emperor  makes  all  the  running." 

The  Chancellor  looked  up,  his  eyes  introspect 
ive,  his  fist  still  covering  the  De  Courcys. 

6  You  are  to  wait  until  I  have  had  answers  to  a 
couple  of  telegrams  I  shall  send  to-night." 


CHAPTER  IX 

A  WHITE  NIGHT 

"You  meaner  beauties  of  the  night, 
That  poorly  satisfy  our  eyes 

More  by  your  number  than  your  light, 
You  common  people  of  the  skies — 
What  are  you  when  the  moon  shall  rise?" 

THE  first  and  second  dressing- gongs  had 
sounded  at  Schloss  Lynarberg  on  the 
evening  of  the  day  after  Otto's  visit  to  his 
brother,  and  the  Grand  Duchess  was  beginning 
to  wonder  what  detained  her  daughter,  when 
ringed  fingers  tapped  smartly  at  the  door. 
"Come  in!"  she  answered  the  familiar  sound, 
and  Sylvia  appeared  on  the  threshold,  still  in  the 
tennis  dress  she  had  worn  that  afternoon.  She 
stood  for  an  instant  without  speaking,  her  face 
so  radiantly  beautiful  that  it  seemed  illumined 
by  a  light  from  within. 

It  had  been  on  the  tip  of  her  mother's  tongue 
to    scold   the   girl    for   her   delay,   since  to  be 

152 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  153 

late  was  an  almost  unpardonable  offense,  with 
Royalty  in  the  house.  But  the  words  died,  and 
others  of  a  different  sort  came  trooping  to 
their  place. 

"Sylvia,  what  is  it?  You  look  —  I  hardly 
know  how  you  look!  But  something  has  hap 
pened." 

The  Princess  came  slowly  across  the  room, 
smiling  with  the  air  of  one  who  walks  in  sleep. 
She  hardly  appeared  to  see  the  chair  she  took, 
but  sat  down  as  if  by  instinct,  then  rested  her 
elbows  on  her  knees,  her  chin  nestling  between 
her  palms,  like  a  pinky-white  rose  in  its  calyx. 

"You  may  go,  Josephine,"  said  the  Grand 
Duchess  to  her  maid.  "I  will  ring  when  I  want 
you  again." 

The  elaborate  process  of  dressing  her  luxuriant 
gray  hair  had  just  been  finished.  The  rest  might 
wait  until  curiosity  was  satisfied. 

But  Sylvia  sat  still,  dreaming.  The  Grand 
Duchess  had  to  speak  twice  in  a  raised  tone 
before  she  could  command  attention.  "My 
child  —  have  you  anything  to  tell  me?" 

Sylvia    roused    herself.     "Nothing,    mother, 


154    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

really  —  except  that  I  am  the  happiest  girl  on 
earth." 

"Why --what  has  he  said?" 

"Not  a  word  that  any  one  might  not  have 
listened  to.  But  I  know.  He  does  care;  and  I 
think  he  will  say  something  before  we  part." 

"There  is  only  one  day  more  of  his  visit  here, 
after  to-night." 

"One  whole,  long,  beautiful  day  —  together!" 

"But  after  all,  darling,"  ventured  the  Grand 
Duchess,  "what  do  you  expect?  If  you  were 
really  only  Miss  de  Courcy,  marriage  between 
you  and  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  would  be  out  of 
the  question.  You've  never  been  very  com 
municative  on  this  subject,  but  I  wish  I  knew 
exactly  what  you  hope  for,  what  you  will  con 
sider  the  —  the  keystone  of  the  situation  ?" 

"Only  for  him  to  tell  me  that  he  loves  me," 
Sylvia  confessed.  "If  I  am  right  —  if  I  have 
brought  something  new  into  his  life  —  something 
which  has  shown  him  that  he  has  a  heart  as  well 
as  a  head  —  then  there  will  come  a  moment  when 
he  can  keep  silent  no  longer,  when  he  will  have 
to  say,  'I  love  you,  and  because  we  can  be 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  155 

nothing  to  each  other  day  is  turned  into  night  for 
me.'  Then  --  when  that  moment  comes  —  the 
tide  of  my  fortune  will  be  at  its  flood.  I  shall 
tell  him  that  I  love  him,  too  —  and  —  /  shall 
tell  him  all  the  truth." 

"You  will  tell  him  who  you  really  are?" 
"Yes;  and  why  I  have  been  masquerading. 
That  it  was  because  he  had  always  been  the  one 
man  on  earth  for  me ;  because,  when  our  mar 
riage  was  suggested,  I  would  win  his  love  first  as 
a  woman,  or  I  would  live  single  all  my  days." 
"What  if  he  should  be  angry  and  refuse  to 
forgive  you  ?  You  know,  dear,  we  shall  be  in  a 
curious  position,  at  best,  when  the  truth  comes 
out,  having  made  our  acquaintances  here  under 
the  name  of  De  Courcy.  Even  Lady  West,  so 
dear  a  friend,  so  romantic  a  heart,  was  uncom 
fortable  about  the  letters.  She  only  eased  her 
conscience  because  our  real  position  in  the  world 
was  much  higher  than  the  one  we  assumed; 
therefore,  those  to  whom  we  were  introduced 
would  be  but  too  pleased  to  know  us  in  our  own 
characters  at  the  end.  Yet  Maximilian  is  a 
mart,  not  a  romantic  woman ;  he  has  always 


156    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

borne  a  reputation  for  austerity,  for  being  just 
before  he  was  generous,  and  it  may  be  that  to 
one  of  his  nature  a  mad  prank  like  this  of 

yours 

'You  think  of  him  as  he  was,  not  as  he  is, 
if  you  fancy  he  would  be  hard  with  —  a  woman 
he  loved/'  said  Sylvia.  "He  will  forgive  me, 
mother;  I  have  no  fear  of  that.  To-night,  I 
have  no  fear  of  anything.  He  loves  me  —  and  I 
am  Empress  of  the  world." 

"Many  women  would  be  satisfied  with  Rhae- 
tia,"  was  the  practical  thought  in  the  mind 
of  the  Grand  Duchess;  but  she  would  throw 
no  more  cold  water  upon  her  daughter's  mood  of 
exaltation.  She  kissed  Sylvia  on  the  forehead, 
breathed  a  few  words  of  sympathy;  and  then 
shook  her  head,  sighing  doubtfully,  when  the  girl 
had  gone  to  her  own  room  to  dress. 

It  sounded  poetical,  and  as  easy  to  arrange  as 
turning  a  kaleidoscope  to  form  a  riewr  combina 
tion,  while  Sylvia  talked;  but,  when  her  happy 
face  and  brilliant  eyes  no  longer  illumined  the 
situation,  the  way  seemed  dark.  To  be  sure, 
Sylvia  had  so  far  walked  triumphantly  along  the 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  157 

high  road  to  success;  but  it  was  not  always  a 
good  beginning  which  made  a  good  ending,  as  the 
old  Duke  of  Northminster  had  been  wont  to 
observe;  and  now  the  Grand  Duchess  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald  felt  that  her  nerves  must 
remain  at  high  tension  until  matters  were  defi 
nitely  settled,  for  better  or  for  worse. 

Sylvia  had  never  in  her  life  been  lovelier  than 
she  was  that  night  at  dinner,  and  Otto  von 
Markstein's  admiration  for  her  beauty  had  in  it  a 
new  ingredient,  which  added  a  fascinating  spice. 
He  had  regarded  her  until  yesterday  as  a  penni 
less  connoisseur  regards  a  masterpiece  of  statuary 
which  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  dream  of 
possessing.  What  we  know  is  not  for  us,  we  are 
scarcely  conscious  of  desiring;  but  the  moment 
an  element  of  hope  enters  in,  we  behold  the 
object  from  a  more  personal  point  of  view. 

Otto  looked  also  very  often  at  the  Emperor, 
contrasting  his  sovereign's  appearance  some 
what  unfavourably  with  his  own.  Maximilian 
was  thin  and  dark,  with  a  grave  cast  of  feature; 
while  Otto's  face  had  contrived  to  retain  all  the 
colour  and  beauty  of  youth.  Alma  Tadema 


158   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

would  have  wreathed  him  with  vine  leaves,  given 
him  a  lute,  draped  him  in  a  tiger  skin,  and  set  him 
down  on  a  marble  bench  against  a  sapphire 
sky,  when  he  would  have  appeared  to  far  greater 
advantage  than  in  the  stiff  uniform  of  a  crack 
Rhaetian  regiment.  Maximilian,  on  the  con 
trary,  must  always  have  been  painted  as  a 
soldier,  and  it  seemed  to  the  young  officer,  since 
his  grim  brother  had  put  the  thought  into  his 
head,  that  there  could  be  no  question  as  to  the 
ultimate  preference  of  a  normal  girl. 

Miss  de  Courcy  did  not  notice  him  at  present, 
because  the  Emperor  loomed  large  in  the  fore 
ground;   but  Eberhard  had  evidently  a  plan  in 
his  head  for  removing  that  stately  obstacle  into  * 
the  perspective. 

Otto  had  not  heard  that  Miss  de  Courcy  was 
an  heiress,  therefore,  even  had  there  been  no 
Emperor,  he  would  not  have  prostrated  himself 
at  the  attractive  shrine.  But  now  the  shrine  was 
newly  decked.  Otto  dwelt  much  in  thought 
upon  the  Chancellor's  apparently  impulsive 
offer  and  the  somewhat  contradictory  command 
which  had,  a  little  later,  enjoined  delay. 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  159 

He  had  not,  fortunately,  been  forbidden  to 
preen  himself  under  the  eyes  of  the  English 
beauty,  and  his  desire  now  was,  when  the  men 
should  rejoin  the  ladies  after  dinner,  to  make  his 
way  at  once  to  Miss  de  Courcy's  side.  But, 
as  bad  luck  would  have  it,  Baron  von  Lynar 
detained  him  for  a  few  moments  with  the 
account  of  a  marvellous  remedy  which  might 
cure  the  Chancellor's  gout;  and  when  he  escaped 
to  look  for  Miss  de  Courcy  in  the  great  white 
drawing-room,  she  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
From  the  music-room  adjoining,  however,  came 
sounds  which  drew  him  toward  the  door.  He 
knew  Miss  de  Courcy's  touch  on  the  piano; 
she  was  there,  playing  soft,  low  chords.  Per 
haps  she  was  preparing  to  sing,  as  she  had  once 
or  twice  before,  and  would  need  some  one  to 
turn  the  pages  of  her  music.  Otto  was  in  the 
act  of  pushing  aside  the  embroidered  white  vel 
vet  portiere  that  curtained  the  door,  when  his 
hostess  smilingly  beckoned  him  away.  "The 
Emperor  has  just  asked  Miss  de  Courcy  to 
teach  him  an  old-fashioned  English  or  Scotch 
air  (I  fear  I  don't  know  the  difference!)  called 


160   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

'Annie  Laurie,' "  she  explained.  " He  was  quite 
charmed  when  she  sang  it  the  other  day;  and  I 
have  been  telling  him  that  the  music  would 
exactly  suit  his  voice.  I  think  we  had  better 
not  disturb  them  until  the  lesson  is  over.  Tell 
me  (I  had  hardly  a  moment  to  ask  you  last 
night),  how  did  you  really  find  the  Chancellor  ?" 

Chained  to  a  forced  allegiance,  Otto  mechanic 
ally  answered  the  quickly  following  questions  of 
the  Baroness,  ears  and  eyes  both  doing  their 
secret  best  to  penetrate  the  curtain  of  white 
and  gold. 

Everybody  knew  of  the  music  lesson,  and 
everybody  chatted  in  tactful  pretense  of  ignor 
ance.  Once,  twice,  and  thrice  the  mezzo- 
soprano  and  the  baritone  sang  conscientiously 
through  the  verses  of  "Annie  Laurie,"  with 
occasional  breakdowns  and  new  beginnings; 
then  a  few  more  desultory  chords  were  struck 
on  the  piano:  and  at  last  silence  reigned  in  the 
music-room.  Were  the  two  still  there  ?  If  they 
conversed  in  low  tones,  it  would  not  only  be 
impracticable  to  catch  what  they  said,  but  even 
to  hear  the  murmur  of  their  voices,  in  the  draw- 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  161 

ing-room.  To  interrupt  such  a  tete-a-tete  was 
not  to  be  thought  of,  but  Otto  was  turning  over 
in  his  mind  some  less  conspicuous,  equally 
efficacious  way  of  ending  it,  when  there  came  a 
sudden  diversion. 

Lady  de  Courcy  received  a  telegram,  brought 
by  mounted  messenger  from  Sal zbr tick,  and  was 
so  much  affected  thereby  that  she  showed  signs 
of  swooning.  Her  plump,  pleasant  little  face 
grew  pale;  she  rose  from  her  chair,  tottering, 
and  admitted,  in  answer  to  Baroness  von  Lynar's 
solicitous  inquiries,  that  she  had  had  bad  news. 

"Where  is  my  daughter?"  she  asked.  "I 
think,  as  I  am  rather  upset  by  -  -  by  disquieting 
accounts  of  a  dear  friend,  I  had  better  go  to  my 
room.  And  I  shall  be  so  much  obliged  if  — 
Mary  can  be  sent  to  me  as  soon  as  she  comes  in." 

Now  was  Otto's  chance.  While  every  one 
gathered  round  Lady  de  Courcy,  and  smelling- 
salts  were  in  requisiton,  he  lifted  the  white 
portiere  and  peeped  through  a  small  ante 
chamber  into  the  music-room.  The  Emperor 
and  Miss  de  Courcy  were  no  longer  there. 

Otto    twisted    his    moustache;     he    usually 


162   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

twisted  it  on  the  right  side  when  pleased;  and 
he  twristed  it  —  a  great  deal  more  —  on  the  left 
when  he  was  displeased.  He  looked  reproach 
fully  round  the  room,  and  presently  observed 
that  one  of  the  large  windows  leading  to  the 
Italian  garden  stood  wide  open. 

The  month  of  September  was  dying;  but, 
though  winter  had  begun  in  the  Rhaetian  mount 
ains,  warmth  and  sunshine  still  lingered  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Sal zbr tick.  A  balmy  air, 
laden  with  sweet  scents  of  the  flowers  which 
Baron  von  Lynar  had  imported  from  Italy, 
floated  to  Otto's  nostrils.  The  languorous  per 
fume  suggested  soft  dalliance  and  confessions  of 
love.  The  Emperor  had  taken  Miss  de  Courcy 
into  the  garden:  Otto  knew  that  well  enough; 
and  if  there  had  been  a  plentitude  of  trees,  with 
broad  trunks,  behind  which  a  man's  figure 
might  modestly  conceal  itself  in  the  darkness, 
he  would  unobtrusively  have  followed.  But 
he  mentally  reviewed  the  shrubbery,  plant  by 
plant,  as  he  could  recall  it,  and  decided  at  last 
that  the  better  part  of  valour  for  an  officer  and  a 
gentleman  lay  in  remaining  within  doors.  He 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  163 

did  not,  however,  return  to  the  drawing-room, 
despite  the  concern  for  Lady  de  Courcy's  health 
which  had  taken  him  in  search  of  her  daughter. 
Heavy  curtains  of  olive-green  velvet  hung  straight 
down  over  the  windows  of  the  music-room,  and 
by  neatly  sandwiching  oneself  in  a  deep  embras 
ure  between  drapery  and  wTindow-frame,  one 
found  a  convenient  niche  for  observing  a  limited 
quarter  of  the  garden.  The  moon  was  rising 
over  the  lake,  and  long,  pale  rays  of  level  light 
were  creeping  up  the  paths,  like  the  fingers  of 
a  blind  man  that  touch  gropingly  the  features 
of  a  beloved  face. 

Otto  could  not  see  very  far,  but  if  the  Emperor 
and  his  companion  returned  by  the  way  they  had 
taken,  as  they  were  almost  sure  to  do,  he  would 
know  whether  they  walked  back  to  the  house  in 
the  attitude  of  formal  acquaintances  or  —  lovers. 

They  had  not  been  gone  from  the  piano  for 
many  minutes,  and  they  would  not  be  likely  to 
extend  this  duet  —  which  so  logically  followed 
the  music  —  much  longer.  One  of  the  two, 
if  not  both,  would  have  sense  enough  left  to 
remember  les  convenances. 


164   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

But  the  moments  went  on,  and  Otto,  whose 
patent-leather  pumps  were  rather  tight,  changed 
from  one  position  to  another,  straining  his  eyes 
down  the  whitening  alleys  in  vain. 


Everything  in  the  garden  that  was  not  white 
was  gray  as  a  dove's  wing  that  night.  Even 
the  shadows  were  not  black.  And  the  sky  was 
gray,  with  a  changeful  glory  of  stars,  like  the 
shimmering  light  on  a  spangled  fan  that  moves 
to  and  fro  in  the  restless  hand  of  a  woman. 
White  moths,  forgetful  that  summer  would  come 
no  more  into  their  brief  lives,  fluttered  out 
from  the  shadows  like  rose  petals  tossed  by 
the  south  wind.  On  a  trellis,  a  sisterhood  of 
pale  nun -roses  hung  their  faces  earthward  in 
memento  mori. 

It  was  a  white  night;  a  night  of  enchantment; 
a  night  for  lovers. 

Maximilian  had  only  meant  to  take  Sylvia  out 
to  see  the  moon  rise  over  the  water,  turning  the 
surface  of  jet  to  a  sheet  of  steel;  for  there  had 
been  clouds  or  rain  on  other  nights,  and  he 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  165 

had  said  to  himself  that  perhaps  never  again 
would  they  two  stand  alone  together  in  the  moon 
shine.  He  had  meant  to  keep  her  to  himself  for  five 
minutes,  saying  little,  though  it  might  be  that  he 
would  think  a  great  deal.  He  had  meant  that  - 
no  more;  but  they  had  walked  down  to  the  path 
which  rimmed  the  cliff  above  the  lake.  And  the 
moonlight  lay  on  her  gold  hair  and  her  fair  face 
like  a  benediction.  They  did  not  look  at  one 
another,  but  out  over  the  water,  where  the  silver 
sheen  cut  the  darkness  like  the  sword  Excalibur, 
rising  from  the  lake. 

Then  came  a  sudden  rustling  in  the  grass  by 
the  side  of  the  path,  at  their  feet.  It  was  some 
small  winged  thing  of  the  night  asking  a  lodging 
in  a  bell-shaped  flower  whose  blue  colour  the 
moon  had  drunk.  Maximilian  bent  to  pluck 
the  branch  of  blossoms,  and  at  the  same  instant 
Sylvia  stooped  with  a  childlike  impulse  to  "make 
the  flower-bells  ring." 

Their  hands  met  on  the  stem  as  it  broke,  and 
Maximilian's  closed  over  hers. 

The  moment  she  desired  had  come;  yet, 
womanlike,  she  wished  it  away  —  not  gone  for- 


166    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

ever,  but  waiting  still,  just  round  the  corner  of 
the  future. 

"The  flowers  are  yours,"  she  said,  as  if  she 
thought  it  was  in  eagerness  to  obtain  the  spray 
that  he  had  grasped  her  fingers. 

'  You  are  the  flower  I  want  —  the  flower  of  all 
the  world!"  he  suddenly  answered.  For  the  ice 
barriers  had  held  back  the  torrent  of  which  he 
had  told  her,  had  melted  beneath  the  sun  of  love 
long  ago.  In  turn,  they  had  been  replaced  by 
other  barriers,  well-nigh  as  strong  —  his  con 
victions;  his  duty  as  a  man  at  the  head  of  a 
nation.  But  now,  in  a  moment,  these  too  had 
been  swept  away.  "I  love  you  better  than  the 
life  you  saved,"  he  spoke  again.  "I  have  loved 
you  since  that  first  hour,  on  the  mountain;  and 
every  day  since  my  love  has  grown,  until  I  can 
fight  against  it  no  longer.  Only  say  that  you 
care  for  me  a  little  —  only  say  that." 

"I  do  care,"  Sylvia  whispered.  She  was  very 
happy.  She  had  prayed  for  this,  lived  for  this. 
Yet  she  had  pictured  a  different  scene;  she  had 
seemed  to  hear  broken  words  of  sorrow  and 
renunciation  on  his  lips  —  a  sorrow  she  could 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  167 

turn  to  joy.  "I  do  care — so  much  that  —  it  is  hard 
to  think  there  is  nothing  for  us  but  parting." 

"If  you  care,  then  we  shall  not  be  parted," 
said  Maximilian. 

The  Princess  looked  up  at  him  in  wonder, 
putting  him  from  her,  as  he  would  have  taken 
her  in  his  arms.  What  did  he  mean  ?  What 
was  in  his  mind  that,  believing  her  to  be  Mary  de 
Courcy,  yet  made  it  possible  for  him  to  speak  as 
he  was  speaking  now  ? 

"I  don't  understand,"  she  faltered.  "What 
else  is  there  for  us?  You  are  the  Emperor  of 
Rhaetia;  I- 

;<  You  are  my  wife,  if  you  love  me." 

In  the  shock  of  her  surprise  she  was  helpless 
to  resist  him  longer;  and  he  held  her  tightly, 
passionately,  his  lips  on  her  hair,  as  her  face  lay 
pressed  against  his  heart.  She  could  hear  it 
beating,  feel  it  throb  under  her  cheek.  His 
wife?  How  was  it  possible? 

But  he  said  the  words  again,  "My  darling - 
my  wife!" 

:sYou  love  me  well  enough  --  for  that?"  she 
breathed.  Sylvia  had  not  dared  to  dream  of 


168   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

such  a  triumph  as  this.  "But  the  law  of  your 
country?  Oh,  surely  you  have  forgotten!  We 
can  only  love  each  other,  and  say  good-bye." 
She  was  ready  to  try  him  yet  a  little  further. 

"We  will  love  each  other,  but  by  heaven,  we 
shall  not  say  good-bye  —  not  after  this  hour.  I 
could  not  lose  you.  As  for  the  law,  there  is 
nothing  in  it  which  prevents  my  being  your  hus 
band,  you  my  wife." 

"It  is  strange."    Sylvia's  breath  came  quickly. 
"I  have  thought  —  I  have    always  believed - 
that  the  Empress  of  Rhaetia  must  be  of  Royal 
blood.     I-    -" 

"Ah,  my  darling,  the  Empress  of  Rhaetia  I 
cannot  make  you.  If  you  love  me  as  well  — 
only  half  as  well  as  I  love  you,  you  will  be  satis 
fied  with  the  empire  of  my  heart." 

Suddenly  the  warm,  throbbing  blood  in  Sylvia's 
veins  grew  chill.  It  was  as  if  a  wind  had  blown 
up  from  the  dark  depths  of  the  lake,  to  strike 
with  an  icy  chill  upon  her  soul.  A  moment  more 
and  she  would  have  told  him  the  whole  truth, 
worshipping  him  because  he  had  been  ready  to 
break  through  all  the  traditions  of  his  country 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  169 

for  her  sake.     But  now  her  passionate  impulse 
of  gratitude  was  frozen  by  that  biting  blast.     If 
only  it  came  from  clouds  of  misunderstanding  - 
if  only  the  clouds  would  part,  and  give  her  back 
the  full  glory  of  a  vanishing  joy! 

"  The  empire  of  your  heart ! "  she  echoed.  "  I 
should  be  richer  than  with  all  the  treasures  of 
the  world,  if  that  were  mine.  If  you  were  the 
chamois-hunter  I  met  on  the  mountain,  I  would 
love  you  as  I  love  you  now,  and  I  would  go  with 
you  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  as  your  wife.  But 
you  are  not  the  chamois-hunter;  you  are  an 
emperor.  Had  you  told  me  only  of  a  hopeless 
love,  having  nothing  else  to  offer  save  that,  and 
a  promise  not  to  forget,  since  your  high  destiny 
must  stand  between  us,  I  could  still  have  been 
happy.  Yet  you  say  more  than  that.  You 
say  something  I  cannot  understand.  What  an 
emperor  offers  a  woman  he  honours,  must  be  all 
or  —  nothing." 

"I  do  offer  you  all,"  said  Maximilian.  "All 
myself,  my  life,  the  very  soul  of  me  —  all  that  is 
my  own  to  give.  The  rest  belongs  to  Rhaetia." 

"Then  — what " 


170    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"  Do  you  not  understand,  my  sweet,  that  I  have 
asked  you  to  be  my  wife  ?  What  can  a  man  ask 
more?" 

"Your  wife  —  yet  not  the  Empress.  How 
can  the  two  be  separated?" 

He  tried  to  take  her  once  more  in  his  arms, 
but  when  he  saw  that  she  would  stand  aloof,  he 
held  his  love  in  control  and  waited.  He  was 
certain  that  he  need  not  wait  long,  for  not  only 
had  he  laid  his  heart  at  her  feet,  but,  to  do  that, 
he  pledged  himself  to  a  tremendous  sacrifice. 
The  step  upon  which  he  had  decided,  in  the 
moment  when  passion  for  her  had  overcome  all 
prudent  scruples,  would  create  dissension  among 
his  people,  rouse  fierce  anger  in  the  heart  of  one 
who  had  been  his  second  father,  incense  England 
and  Germany  because  of  the  young  Princess 
whose  name  rumour  had  already  coupled  with 
his,  and  altogether  raise  a  fierce  storm  about  his 
ears.  When  she  had  reflected,  when  she  fully 
understood,  she  would  be  his,  now  and  forever. 

Very  tenderly  he  took  her  hand  and  lifted  it 
to  his  lips;  then,  when  she  did  not  snatch  it  from 
him  —  (because  he  was  to  have  his  chance  of 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  171 

explanation)  -  -  he  kept  it  between  both  his  own, 
as  he  talked  on. 

"Dearest  one,"  he  said,  "when  I  first  knew 
that  I  loved  you  (as  I  had  not  known  it  was  in 
my  nature  to  love  a  woman) ,  for  your  sake  and 
my  own  I  would  have  avoided  seeing  you  too 
often.  This  I  tell  you  frankly.  I  did  not  see 
how,  in  honour,  such  a  love  could  end  except  in 
sorrow  for  me  —  even  for  you,  if  it  were  possible 
that  I  could  make  you  care.  If  you  and  Lady 
de  Courcy  had  stayed  at  the  hotel,  I  think  I 
could  have  been  faithful  to  the  resolve.  But 
when  Baroness  von  Lynar  spoke  to  me  of  your 
coming  here,  at  the  time  of  my  own  visit,  my 
heart  leaped  up.  I  said  in  my  mind:  'At  least 
I  shall  have  the  happiness  of  seeing  her  every 
day,  for  a  time,  without  doing  anything  to  darken 
her  future.  I  shall  have  these  days  always  to 
remember,  when  she  has  gone  out  of  my  life,  and 
no  harm  will  be  done,  except  to  myself.'  Still,  I 
only  thought  of  parting,  in  the  end --for  that 
seemed  inevitable.  But  not  one  night  have  I 
slept  since  I  have  been  here  at  Lynarberg.  My 
rooms  open  on  a  lawn  at  the  other  side  of  the 


172   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

house.  Often  I  came  out  here  in  the  darkness, 
when  every  one  elseSvas  sleeping;  and  sometimes 
I  have  stood  on  this  very  spot,  where  you  and  I 
stand  together  now  —  heart  to  heart  for  the  first 
time,  my  darling  —  thinking  whether,  if  you 
should  care,  there  was  any  way  to  be  found  out  of 
such  difficulties  as  mine.  At  last  a  ray  of  light 
seemed  to  shine  through  the  clouds.  There  was 
much  to  be  overcome  on  both  sides,  and  my  mind 
was  not  yet  clear,  until  I  brought  you  here  with 
me  to-night.  When  I  saw  you  by  my  side,  the 
moonlight  shining  on  your  face,  I  caught  at  this 
way  of  binding  our  lives  together.  I  knew  that 
my  life  was  worth  nothing  to  me,  unless  it  were 
to  be  shared  with  you." 

"Yet  you  have  not  answered  my  question," 
said  Sylvia. 

"I  am  coming  to  that  now.  It  was  best  that 
you  should  hear  first  what  has  been  in  my  heart 
and  mind,  these  last  days  which  have  held  more 
joy  for  me  than  all  the  years  I  have  left  behind. 
You  know  that  men  who  have  their  place  at  the 
head  of  a  great  nation  cannot  think  merely  of 
themselves  and  those  they  love  better  than  them- 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  173 

selves.  If  they  desire  to  snatch  at  personal 
happiness,  they  must  take  the  only  way  open  to 
them  —  that  is  all.  Don't  do  me  the  injustice  to 
believe  that  I  would  not  be  proud  to  show  you 
to  my  subjects  as  their  Empress;  but,  instead,  I 
can  only  offer  you  what  men  of  Royal  blood  have 
for  hundreds  of  years  offered  women  whom  they 
respected  as  well  as  loved.  You  have  heard  of 
an  arrangement  which  in  your  country  is  called  a 
'morganatic  marriage'?  That  is  what  I  pro 
pose." 

With  a  low  cry  of  pain  —  the  bitter  pain  of 
disappointed  love  and  wounded  pride  —  Sylvia 
tore  her  hand  from  his. 

"Never!"  she  exclaimed.     "It  is  an  insult." 

"An  insult  ?  Then,  even  now  I  have  not  made 
you  understand." 

"I  think  that  I  understand  very  well  —  far  too 
well,"  said  Sylvia  brokenly.  The  beautiful  fairy 
structure  of  happiness  that  she  had  reared  lay 
shattered  -  -  destroyed  in  the  moment  which 
should  have  seen  its  completion. 

"I  tell  you  that  you  do  not  understand,  or  you 
would  not  say  -  -  you  would  not  dare  to  say,  my 


174   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

love  —  that  I  had  insulted  you.  You  would 
be  honourably  my  wife  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  man." 

"Your  wife!"  and  Sylvia  gave  a  hard  little 
laugh  which  hurt  more  cruelly  than  tears.  "  You 
have  a  strange  idea  of  that  word,  which  has 
always  been  sacred  to  me.  I  would  be  your 
wife,  you  say;  I  would  give  you  all  my  love,  all 
myself;  you  —  would  give  me  your  left  hand. 
And  you  know  well  that,  at  any  moment,  you 
would  be  free  to  marry  another  woman  —  (a 
woman  you  could  make  an  Empress !)  —  as  free 
as  if  I  had  no  existence." 

"Legally  I  might  be  free,"  he  answered,  "but 
I  swear  to  you  that  I  would  never  take  advantage 
of  such  liberty." 

"To  know  you  possessed  it  would  be  death 
to  me.  Oh,  I  tell  you  again,  it  was  an  insult  to 
suggest  a  fate  so  miserable,  so  contemptible,  for 
a  woman  you  profess  to  love.  How  could  you 
bear  to  break  it  to  me  ?  If  only  you  had  never 
spoken  the  hateful  words;  if  you  had  left  me 
the  ideal  I  had  formed  of  you  —  noble,  glorious ! 
But  you  are  selfish,  cruel  —  after  all.  If  you  had 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  175 

only  said,  'I  love  you,  yet  we  must  part,  for  Fate 
stands  between,'  then  I  could  —  I  could:  but  no, 
I  can  never  tell  you  now  what  I  might  have 
answered  if  you  had  said  that  instead." 

Under  the  sharp  fire  of  her  reproaches  he 
stood  still,  his  lips  tightly  closed,  his  shoulders 
squared,  as  if  he  had  bared  his  breast  for  the 
blow  of  a  knife. 

"By  heaven,  it  is  you  who  are  cruel!"  he  said 
at  last.  "How  can  I  show  you  your  injustice ?" 

"In  no  way.  There  is  nothing  more  to  say 
between  us  two,  except  —  farewell." 

"It  shall  not  be  farewell!" 

"  It  shall  —  it  must.     Because  —  I  wish  it." 

He  had  caught  her  dress  as  she  turned  to  go; 
but  now  he  released  her.  'You  wish  it?  It  is 
not  true  that  you  love  me,  then?" 

"  It  was  true.  Everything  —  everything  in  my 
whole  life  -  -  is  changed  now.  It  would  be  better 
if  I  had  never  seen  you.  Good-bye." 

She  ran  from  him.  One  step  he  took  as  if  to 
pursue  and  keep  her,  but  checked  himself  and 
followed  her  only  with  his  eyes.  In  them  there 
was  more  of  anger  than  yearning;  for  Maxi- 


176   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

milian  was  a  proud  man,  and  to  have  his  love, 
and  the  sacrifice  he  would  have  made  for  love's 
sake,  flung  back  in  his  face,  came  like  an  icy 
douche  when  the  blood  is  at  fever  heat. 

For  love  of  this  girl  he  had  in  a  few  days 
altered  the  habits  of  a  lifetime.  Pride,  reserve, 
iron  self-control,  the  wish  not  only  to  appear,  but 
to  be,  a  man  above  the  frailties  of  common  men ; 
the  desire  to  be  admired  almost  as  a  god  by  his 
people  —  all,  all,  he  had  flung  aside  for  her.  He 
was  too  just  not  to  realize  that  if  one  of  his 
many  Royal  cousins,  of  younger  branches  than 
his,  had  contemplated  throwing  away  for  love 
half  that  he  was  ready  now  to  cast  to  the  winds, 
he  would  have  regarded  such  weakness  with  con 
tempt.  "He  jests  at  scars  who  never  felt  a 
wound";  and  until  the  Emperor  had  learned  by 
his  own  most  unlooked-for  experience  what  love 
meant,  what  men  will  do  for  love  while  its  sweet 
madness  is  on  them,  he  would  have  been  utterly 
unable  to  sympathize  with  such  passionate 
insanity  as  his  own.  A  cousin  inclined  to  act  as 
he  was  bent  on  acting  would  once  have  found 
all  the  Emperor's  influence,  even  force  perhaps, 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  177 

brought  forward  to  constrain  him.  Maximilian 
saw  this  change  in  himself,  was  astonished  and 
shamed  by  it;  yet  would  have  persevered,  reck 
lessly  trampling  down  every  obstacle,  if  only 
Sylvia  had  seen  things  with  his  eyes. 

She  had  accused  him  of  insulting  her,  caring 
not  at  all  that,  even  to  make  her  morganatically 
his  wife,  he  must  give  great  cause  of  offense  to 
his  Ministers  and  his  people.  He  was  expected 
to  marry  a  woman  of  Royal  rank,  suitable  to  his 
own,  and  to  give  the  country  an  heir.  If  Sylvia 
had  accepted  the  position  he  offered,  he  could 
never  have  thought  of  another  marriage.  Not 
only  would  it  be  exceedingly  difficult,  in  modern 
days,  to  find  a  princess  willing  to  tolerate  such 
a  rival,  but  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  so  to 
desecrate  the  bond  between  himself  and  the 
woman  he  adored.  This  being  so,  there  could 
be  no  direct  heir  to  the  throne.  At  his  death 
his  uncle,  the  Archduke  Egon's  son,  would  suc 
ceed;  and,  during  his  own  reign,  the  popularity 
which  was  dear  to  him  would  be  hopelessly  for 
feited.  Rhaetians  would  never  forgive  him  for 
selfishly  preferring  his  own  private  happiness  to 


178   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

the  good  of  the  nation,  or  what  they  would  con 
sider  its  good;  and  they  would  have  a  right  to 
their  resentment,  as  they  had  a  right  to  demand 
that  he  should  marry.  He  could  fancy  how  old 
"Iron  Heart"  von  Markstein  would  present  this 
view  to  him,  with  furious  eloquence,  temples  that 
throbbed  like  the  ticking  of  a  watch,  eyes  netted 
with  bloodshot  veins.  He  could  fancy,  too,  how 
with  Sylvia's  love  and  promise  to  uphold  him,  he 
could  have  stood  against  the  storm,  steadfast  in 
his  own  indomitable  will.  But  now,  the  will 
which  had  carried  him  through  life  in  a  trium 
phal  progress  had  been  powerless  against  that  of  a 
girl.  She  would  have  none  of  him.  A  woman 
whose  face  was  her  fortune,  whose  place  in  life 
reached  hardly  so  high  as  the  first  steps  of  a 
throne,  had  refused  —  an  emperor. 

Hardly  yet  could  Maximilian  believe  the 
things  which  had  happened.  He  had  spoken  of 
doubting  that  he  had  won  her  love;  and  so 
he  had  doubted.  But  he  had  allowed  himself 
very  strongly  to  hope,  since  in  the  annals  of 
history  it  had  scarcely  been  known  that  an 
emperor's  suit  should  be  despised.  Besides,  he 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  179 

had  loved  her  so  passionately,  that  it  seemed  she 
could  not  be  cold.  He  hoped  still  that,  when 
she  had  passed  the  night  in  reflecting,  in  thinking 
over  the  situation,  perhaps  taking  counsel  with 
that  commonplace  but  sensible  lady,  her  mother, 
she  might  be  ready,  if  approached  for  the  second 
time,  to  change  her  mind. 

For  the  first  moment  or  two  after  the  stinging 
rebuff  he  had  suffered,  Maximilian  felt  that  he 
could  not  demean  himself  -  -  having  been  so  mis 
judged,  so  accused  -  -  to  sue  again.  But,  as  he 
looked  toward  the  house,  and  thought  of  Sylvia's 
sweetness,  her  beauty  dimmed  by  grief  -  -  which 
he  had  caused  -  -  a  great  tenderness  breathed  its 
calm  over  the  thwarted  passion  in  his  breast. 

He  would  write  a  letter  and  send  it  to  her 
room;  or  no,  better  give  her  a  longer  interval  for 
repentance.  To-morrow  he  would  see  her  and 
show  her  all  the  depth  of  the  love  she  had  thrust 
aside.  She  could  not  withstand  him  forever; 
and  now  that  he  had  burned  his  boats  behind 
him,  he  would  not  go  back.  He  could  not  give 
her  up. 

Sylvia  had  hurried  blindly  toward  the  house. 


180   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

and  it  was  instinct  rather  than  intention  which 
led  her  to  the  open  window  of  the  music-room. 
Tears  burned  her  eyelids,  but  they  did  not  fall 
until  she  stood  once  more  where  she  and  Maxi 
milian  had  so  lately  been  together.  There  she 
had  sat,  at  the  piano,  while  he  had  bent  over  her, 
and  she  had  been  happy.  How  little  she  had 
guessed  the  humiliation  that  was  to  come !  How 
could  she  bear  it,  and  how  could  she  live  out  the 
years  of  her  life  after  this  ? 

She  paused  in  the  embrasure  of  the  window, 
her  little  fingers  fiercely  clutching  the  heavy  cur 
tain,  as  she  gazed  through  a  mist  at  the  picture 
called  up  by  the  open  piano.  Then  a  sob  tore 
its  way  from  her  heart  to  her  lips.  "Cruel- 
cruel!"  she  stammered,  half  aloud.  "What 
agony  --  what  an  insult!  Ah,  well,  the  dream's 
ended  now." 

Dashing  the  tears  away  to  clear  her  vision, 
with  desperation  that  must  vent  itself  somehow, 
she  flung  the  curtain  aside  and  would  have  moved 
out  into  the  room  beyond,  had  not  her  gesture 
revealed  the  presence  of  a  figure  wrapped  in 
the  folds  of  velvet. 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  181 

Some  one  else  was  there  in  the  embrasure  of 
the  window  —  some  one  was  hiding,  and  had 
been  spying.  Dark  as  it  was  behind  the  satin- 
lined  velvet  curtain,  she  must  have  seen  a  form 
pressed  back  into  the  shadow,  had  not  her  eyes 
been  blinded  by  her  tears. 

Now,  her  first  impulse  was  for  flight  —  any 
thing  to  escape  without  recognition;  but  a  sec 
ond  quick  thought  brought  a  change  of  mood. 
Whoever  it  was,  had  been  watching,  was  already 
informed  that  Miss  de  Courcy  had  come  in 
weeping,  after  a  tete-a-tete  with  the  Emperor. 
She  must  know  who  it  was  with  whom  she 
had  to  deal. 

Sylvia  had  taken  a  step  out  into  the  room,  as 
she  flung  back  the  curtain  and  touched  the  warm 
shape  behind  it.  Wheeling  suddenly  round,  she 
snatched  the  screen  of  velvet  away  and  stood  face 
to  face  with  Captain  von  Markstein. 

It  was  a  crucial  moment  for  him.  Quailing 
under  the  lash  of  her  glance,  bereft  of  his  pres 
ence  of  mind,  he  caught  at  any  chance  for  self- 
justification.  The  girl  had  come  back  by  a 
different  path  from  the  one  he  had  watched; 


182    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

she  had  rushed  in  like  a  whirlwind,  without  giv 
ing  him  the  opportunity  for  escape  which  he  had 
reasonably  expected.  If  he  stood  waiting  her 
condemnation,  he  was  lost;  he  must  step  into 
the  breach  at  whatever  risk.  No  time  to  weigh 
words ;  the  first  which  sprang  to  his  tongue  must 
be  let  loose. 

"Don't  think  evil  of  me,  Miss  de  Courcy!" 
he  stammered,  still  groping  for  some  excuse,  in 
the  cotton- wool  which  seemed  to  stuff  his  brains. 

"I  do  not  think  at  all."  She  held  her  head 
proudly;  her  eyes  accused  him  and  belied  her 
words.  With  a  swift  step,  she  would  have  passed 
him,  and  he  would  have  done  well  to  let  her  go; 
but  he  had  caught  a  whisper  of  inspiration  from 
his  evil  genius.  To  turn  the  shame  of  this  defeat 
to  victory,  to  pose  as  hero  instead  of  spy  —  this 
was  an  ending  to  the  game  worth  the  throw  of  all 
his  dice.  So  seemed  to  say  something  in  his  ear, 
and  drunk  with  vanity  he  flung  himself  before  her. 

"I  beg  of  you  to  think,"  he  cried.  "I  will  not 
be  misjudged.  No  man  could  stand  still  under 
the  look  in  your  eyes  and  not  defend  himself,  if 
he  were  innocent.  Your  face  says  'spy." 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  183 

'You  have  read  your  own  meaning  there! 
Pray  let  me  go." 

"  One  moment  first.  You  shall  listen.  I  con 
fess  I  knew  you  were  in  the  garden  with  —  one 
whom  we  need  not  name0  To  break  in  upon 
such  a  tete-a-tete,  for  a  man  of  my  inferior  rank, 
would  be  almost  a  crime,  yet  I  would  have  com 
mitted  that  crime  —  to  save  you.  You  are  so 
innocent,  so  beautiful  --  I  feared  for  you;  I  sus 
pected  -  -  what  I  know  now  from  your  words  has 
happened.  I  would  have  saved  you  this  pain,  if 
I  could  --  but  I  was  too  late,  only  in  time  to  see 
you  coming  in,  to  hear  —  against  my  will  -  -  your 
exclamation.  I  waited  to  say  that  I  can  at  least 
avenge  you.  I  am  at  your  service  -  -  your  knight 
as  in  days  of  old.  Tell  me  what  you  would  have 
me  do,  and  I  will  do  it." 

If  Sylvia's  eyes  had  been  daggers,  he  would 
have  fallen  dead  at  her  feet.  For  an  instant  she 
looked  at  him  in  silence.  Then:  "I  would 
have  you  leave  me,  never  to  dare  come  into  my 
presence  again,"  she  said.  "And  now  I  choose 
to  pass." 

Mechanically  he  gave  way,  and  she  swept  by, 


184    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

with  lifted  head  and  the  proud  bearing  of  an 
offended  queen. 

Otto  was  stricken  dumb.  Dully  he  watched 
her  move  across  the  long  room  to  the  door  which 
led  out  into  a  corridor,  not  through  the  drawing- 
room.  He  saw  the  changing  lights  and  shadows 
on  her  satin  dress,  as  she  passed  under  the 
chandelier;  he  saw  the  reflection  of  its  whiteness 
mirrored  on  the  polished  floor.  She  was  beauti 
ful  to  him  no  longer,  for  he  hated  her  because  of 
his  mistake,  and  because  she  had  read  his  mind. 
She  had  seen  the  truth  there,  under  his  false 
hoods,  as  he  saw  the  reflection  on  the  surface 
of  shining  oak.  She  knew  that  he  was  a  moral 
coward,  and  that,  had  she  accepted  his  fantastic 
offer,  he  would  never  have  ventured  to  enter  the 
lists  as  her  knight  against  the  Emperor.  Fortu 
nately,  she  had  undoubtedly  quarrelled  with 
Maximilian,  and  would  not  carry  tales.  It 
would  indeed  be  a  sorry  day  for  Otto  if  reconcilia 
tion  ever  came;  and  if  by  some  strange  chance  of 
the  future  it  seemed  imminent,  he  must  not  let 
it  come. 

"Heavens!     Does     she     fancy     herself     an 


A  WHITE  NIGHT  185 

Empress?"  he  sneered  beneath  his  breath. 
"  Before  Eberhard  has  finished  with  her,  she 
may  not  even  be  what  she  is  now!" 

His  ears  still  burned  as  if  she  had  struck 
them.  He  could  not  return  to  the  drawing-room 
until  they  had  cooled.  There  was  no  hope  for 
him  now  with  Mary  de  Courcy,  whatever  the 
Chancellor's  mysterious  telegrams  might  contain, 
but  he  was  too  furious  to  mourn  over  lost  hopes, 
lost  opportunities.  Eberhard  wras  evidently  try 
ing  to  learn  something  to  the  girl's  disadvantage 
and  Otto's  aid  was  only  to  have  been  bought  in 
case  of  failure.  Now,  he  was  in  a  mood  to  offer 
it  for  nothing,  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  he 
would  ride  over  to  Schloss  Markstein  early  in  the 
morning. 


CHAPTER  X 

"THE   EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND" 

IT  was  for  the  refuge  of  isolation  that  Sylvia 
fled  to  her  own  room.  Between  her  bed 
chamber  and  the  Grand  Duchess's  was  a  bou 
doir,  which  they  shared;  and  it  was  the  door  of 
this  intermediate  room  that  gave  admittance, 
from  the  corridor  outside,  to  both.  To  the 
girl's  surprise,  as  she  entered  —  her  one  com 
fort  the  assurance  of  being  undisturbed  —  her 
mother  looked  reproachfully  up  from  a  pile  of 
silken  cushions  on  the  sofa.  Josephine  was 
rubbing  her  hands,  and  the  air  was  pervaded 
with  the  pungent  fragrance  of  sal  volatile. 

"I  thought  you  were  never  coming!" 
ejaculated  the  Grand  Duchess.  If  she  noticed 
her  daughter's  pallor,  she  believed  it  due  to 
anxiety  about  herself. 

Sylvia  stared,  half  dazed,  unable  yet  to  separ 
ate  her  mind  from  her  own  private  misfortunes. 

186 


"THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND"     187 

"Never  coming!"  she  echoed  mechanically. 
"Why --are  you  ill --did  you  expect  me?" 

"I  nearly  fainted  downstairs,"  returned  the 
Grand  Duchess,  "and  it  is  entirely  your  fault. 
You  ought  not  to  have  exposed  me,  at  my 
age,  to  such  terrible  shocks.  Josephine,  you 
can  go." 

Sylvia  grew  as  cold  as  ice.  She  could  think  of 
but  one  explanation.  Otto  von  Markstein  had 
not  been  the  only  spy.  Somehow,  news  of  what 
had  happened  in  the  garden  had  reached  the 
Grand  Duchess,  reducing  her  to  this  extremity. 
The  Princess  was  scarcely  conscious  of  hearing 
the  door  close  after  the  banished  Josephine,  yet 
instinctively  she  waited  for  the  click  of  the 
latch.  "How  did  you  know  ?"  she  asked  dully. 

"How  did  I  know?  I  had  a  telegram.  A 
most  alarming,  disconcerting  telegram.  The 
question  is,  how  did  you  know  that  I  knew,  and 
how  did  you  —  did  I  —  oh,  I  am  so  distressed, 
I  hardly  know  anything!" 

The  word  "telegram"  showed  Sylvia  that 
somehow,  somewhere,  misunderstanding  had 
entered  in.  Her  mother's  fretful  complaints 


188    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

pried  among  her  nerves  like  hot  wires;  yet  could 
she  have  believed  it,  the  new  pain  was  the  best  of 
counter-irritants . 

"Are  you  suffering  still,  dear  ?  "  she  questioned, 
carefully  controlling  her  voice.  With  the 
Grand  Duchess,  it  was  always  best  to  go  back 
to  the  beginning,  not  to  attempt  picking  up  loose 
ends  in  the  middle;  thus,  one  sooner  reached 
the  end  of  a  tangle. 

'Yes,  I  am  ill;  very  ill  indeed.     Did  no  one 
tell  you,  no  one  send  you  to  me,  as  I  asked  ?" 

"I  have  seen  no  one  since  I  left  you  —  no  one, 
that  is,  who  could  tell  me  anything.  Won't  you 
tell  — now?" 

The  Grand  Duchess  pointed  a  plump,  dimpled 
forefinger  toward  a  sixteenth-century  writing- 
table.  "The  telegram's  there,  if  you  care  to  see 
it,"  she  remarked  crossly.  She  did  not  often 
lose  her  temper,  or  at  least,  not  for  long;  but  she 
had  really  borne  a  great  deal  of  late,  and,  as  she 
had  observed,  it  was  all  Sylvia's  fault,  therefore 
it  was  Sylvia's  turn  to  suffer  now. 

On  the  desk  lay  a  crumpled  piece  of  paper. 
Sylvia  picked  it  up  and  read,  written  in  English : 


"THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND "     189 

"Somebody  making  inquiries  here  about  De 
Courcys.  Beg  to  advise  you  immediately  to 
explain  all,  or  leave  present  place  of  residence; 
avoid  almost  certain  unpleasantness.  Have  just 
heard  of  complications.  -  -  WEST." 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  that?"  irritably 
demanded  the  Duchess,  vexed  at  Sylvia's  calm 
ness.  "Isn't  it  enough  to  make  any  one  faint? 
That  I, — /,  a  woman  in  my  position  —  should  be 
forced  to  appear  a  —  er  —  an  adventuress!  If 
it  were  not  so  dreadful,  it  would  be  absurd.  You 
might  show  a  little  feeling,  since  it  is  for  you 
that  I  have  done  it  all." 

"I  have  plenty  of  feeling,  mother,"  said 
Sylvia.  "Only  I  —  seem  somehow  rather 
stunned  just  now.  I  suppose  Lady  West  means 
that  busy  bodies  have  been  trying  to  find  out 
things  about  the  De  Courcys.  We  have  pro 
vided  for  most  contingencies,  but  we  had  not 
thought  of  spies  —  till  to-night." 

"I  allowed  myself  to  be  led  by  you,"  declared 
the  Grand  Duchess,  "when  I  ought  to  have  con 
trolled  you,  as  my  child.  I  should  never  have 
allowed  myself  to  be  placed  in  such  an  ignomin- 


190   THE  ADVENTURE  OP  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

ious  plight.  But  here  I  am,  in  it;  and  here  you 
are  also  —  which  is  quite  as  bad,  if  not  worse. 
You  have  brought  us  into  this  trouble,  Sylvia; 
the  least  you  can  do  is  to  get  us  out.  And, 
after  all"  -brightening  a  little  —  "there  is, 
thank  goodness,  a  way  to  do  that.  It  ought 
not  to  be  so  very  difficult." 

"What  way  —  do  you  mean  ?" 

"I  wonder  you  ask  —  since  there  is  only  one. 
Stop  this  foolish  child's  game  that  you  have 
deluded  me  into  playing;  explain  everything  to 
the  Emperor  and  to  Baroness  von  Lynar,  and  be 
prepared  to  turn  the  tables  on  our  enemy  —  who 
ever  that  may  be.  Your  dear  father  always 
said  that  I  had  a  head  for  emergencies,  once  I 
could  get  the  upper  hand  of  my  nerves,  and  I 
hope  —  I  think,  he  was  right." 

"But  what  you  propose  is  impossible,  mother." 

Sylvia  spoke  in  a  low,  constrained  voice,  and 
the  Grand  Duchess,  rising  from  among  her 
pillows,  suddenly  observed  for  the  first  time  that 
there  was  something  strange  in  the  girl's  manner 
and  appearance.  She  admired  her  daughter,  as 
a  bewildered  hen-mother  might  admire  the 


"THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND"     191 

beautiful,  incomprehensible  ball  of  golden  fluff 
that  sails  calmly  away  beyond  her  control  in 
a  terrifying  expanse  of  water,  while  she  herself 
can  only  cluck  protest  from  the  bank.  The 
Grand  Duchess  had  almost  invariably  yielded 
her  will  to  Sylvia's  in  the  end;  but  she  told  herself 
that  she  had  done  so  once  too  often,  and  the 
weaknessess  of  her  past  buttressed  her  obstinacy 
in  the  present. 

"I  tell  you  it  isn't  impossible,"  she  exclaimed. 
"It  can't  be  impossible,  when  it's  the  only  way 
left  to  save  our  dignity.  We  mustn't  let  our 
enemies  have  the  first  move.  You  meant  to  make 
a  sort  of  dramatic  revelation,  sooner  or  later. 
Well,  it  must  be  sooner,  that  is  all,  my  dear." 

"Ah,  I  meant  —  I  meant!"  echoed  Sylvia, 
the  sound  of  a  sob  in  her  voice.  "Nothing  has 
happened  as  I  meant,  mother.  You  were  right; 
I  was  wrong.  We  ought  never  to  have  come  to 
Rhaetia." 

The  Grand  Duchess's  heart  gave  a  thump. 
If  Sylvia  were  thus  ready  to  admit  herself  in  the 
wrong,  without  a  struggle,  then  matters  must 
indeed  have  reached  an  alarming  pass.  Not  a 


192   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

jest;  not  a  single  flippancy!  The  poor  lady  was 
seriously  distressed. 

"  Not  —  come  —  to  —  Rhaetia  ? ' '  she  repeated 
as  incredulously  as  if  she  had  not  herself  lately 
made  the  same  assertion.  "  Why  —  why  — 
what  — " 

"I  scarcely  know  how  to  tell  you,"  said  Sylvia, 
with  lowered  lashes.  "But  I  suppose  I  must." 

"Of  course  you  must.  I  thought  you  looked 
upset.  You  were  with  him  —  in  the  music- 
room.  Yes;  I  remember.  Did  you  try  to 
explain,  and  he  —  was  it  as  I  feared,  only  this 
evening  before  dinner?  Wouldn't  he  forgive 
the  decep ' 

"He  knows  nothing  about  it." 

"Well,  what  then?  Don't  keep  me  in  sus 
pense.  I've  had  enough  to  try  me  without 
that."  And  the  Grand  Duchess  raised  a  little 
jewelled  vinaigrette  to  her  nostrils.  It  had 
been  given  her  by  Queen  Victoria,  and  was 
particularly  supporting  in  a  time  of  trial. 

Sylvia's  lips  were  so  dry  that  she  found  diffi 
culty  in  articulating.  There  were  some  things  it 
was  extremely  embarrassing  to  tell  one's  mother. 


"THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND"    193 

"  We  —  went  out  into  the  garden  —  to  see  the 
moon  —  or  something,"  she  managed  to  begin. 
"He  asked  me  to  be  —  his  wife.  Oh  —  wait, 
wait,  please!  Don't  say  anything  yet!  I  didn't 
know  what  to  make  of  it,  and --he  had  to 
explain.  He  put  it  as  inoffensively  as  he  could, 
but  —  oh!  mother,  I  —  I  was  only  good  enough 
to  be  his  morganatic  wife!" 

The  storm  had  burst  at  last.  There  had 
always  been  mental  and  temperamental  barriers 
between  the  parent  and  child;  but,  after  all,  a 
mother  is  a  mother;  and  nothing  better  has  ever 
been  invented  yet.  Sylvia  fell  on  her  knees  by 
the  sofa,  and,  burying  her  head  in  her  mother's 
lap,  sobbed  as  if  parting  with  her  youth. 

The  Grand  Duchess  thought  of  the  last  time 
when  the  girl  had  so  knelt  beside  her,  the  bright 
hair  under  her  caressing  hand;  and  the  contrast 
between  then  and  now  brought  motherly  tears  to 
her  eyes.  That  time  had  been  in  the  dear  old 
river  garden  at  Richmond,  when  Sylvia  had 
coaxed  away  her  promise  to  help  forward  this 
very  scheme  —  this  disastrous,  miserable,  mad 
scheme.  Poor  little  Sylvia,  so  young,  so  inex- 


194   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

perienced,  so  thoroughly  girlish  for  all  her 
naughty  obstinacy  and  recklessness,  sweet  and 
loving  and  impulsive!  The  child  had  been  so 
full  of  hope  then ;  why,  only  a  few  hours  ago,  she 
had  said  she  was  the  happiest  creature  on  earth ! 

All  the  Grand  Duchess's  resentment  melted 
away  as  she  rocked  the  sobbing  girl  in  the 
comfortable  cradle  of  her  arms,  murmuring  and 
crying  over  her  —  the  hen-mother,  over  the 
golden  duckling  that  had  ventured  into  water 
too  rough  and  treacherous. 

"There,  there,  dear,"  she  crooned.  "It  isn't 
so  very  dreadful;  not  half  as  bad  as  you  made 
me  think.  I'm  sure  he  meant  well.  It  showed, 
at  any  rate,  that  he  loved  you.  Just  at  first,  it 
came  as  rather  a  shock,  of  course,  knowing  who 
we  are;  but  if  you  had  really  been  Miss  de 
Courcy,  I  suppose  —  I  suppose  it  would  have 
been  a  great  compliment" 

"I  call  it  an  insult;  I  called  it  so  to  him," 
gasped  Sylvia  in  the  midst  of  sobs. 

"Oh,  dear  me,  not  as  bad  as  that — not  at  all! 
Many  ladies  of  very  high  standing  have  been  in 
such  positions,  and  every  one  has  thoroughly 


"  THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND  "    195 

respected  them.  Though,  of  course,  such  a 
thing  would  never  do  for  you;  you  must  reflect 
that  Maximilian  couldn't  know  that." 

"He  ought  to  have  known  —  known  that  I 
would  never  consent.  That  no  woman  with 
English  blood  in  her  veins  would  ever  consent. 
It  was  an  insult.  It  has  shown  how  poor  was 
his  estimate  of  me.  It  was  —  it  was!  It  has 
broken  my  heart.  It  has  killed  me.  Oh, 
mother,  it's  all  at  an  end  —  everything  I  lived 
for.  I  can  never  bear  to  see  him  after  this." 

"You'll  feel  differently  to-morrow,  pet," 
purred  the  Grand  Duchess,  smoothing  the 
tumbled  waves  of  yellow  hair. 

"Never!" 

'You  are  too  young  to  fully  understand  the 
etiquette  of  Courts.  Remember,  his  point  of 
view  is  different  from  yours." 

"That  is  the  reason  I  am  so  miserable.     His 
point  of  view  is  hateful.     I  want  to  go  away  - 
to  go  away  at  once." 

Her  earnest  emphasis  forced  conviction.  She 
really  meant  it.  This  was  no  girlish  whim,  to 
be  repented  in  a  few  hours,  a  lovers'  quarrel,  to 


196   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

be  made  up  to-morrow.  The  Grand  Duchess's 
kindly  face,  already  deeply  clouded,  was  utterly 
obscured  in  gloom.  The  small  features  seemed 
lost  behind  their  expression  of  distress. 

"But  surely  you  will  tell  him  the  truth,  or  let 
me,  and  give  him  a  chance  to  —  to  speak  again  ? 
Now,  more  than  ever  - 

"  What  good  would  it  do  ?  Everything  is 
spoiled.  Of  course,  if  he  knew  I  were  Sylvia  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald,  he  would  be  sorry  for  what 
had  happened,  even  if  he  thought  I  had  brought 
it  all  on  myself.  But  that  would  be  too  late 
to  mend  anything.  Don't  you  see,  don't  you 
understand,  that  I  valued  his  love  because  it  was 
given  to  me,  just  me,  not  the  Princess  ?  If  he 
said,  'Now  that  I  know  you  are  Sylvia,  I  can 
have  the  pleasure  of  offering  my  right,  instead  of 
my  left  hand  to  you,  as  my  wife,  and  everything 
can  be  very  pleasant  and  regular/  I  should  not 
care  for  that  at  all.  No,  we  must  go  home, 
mother;  and  the  Emperor  Maximilian  of  Rhaetia 
must  be  informed  that  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg- 
Neuwald  has  decided  not  to  marry.  That  will 
be  our  one  revenge  —  the  only  one  we  can  have 


"  THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND  "    197 

-that  little  slap  in  the  face  to  His  Imperial 
Majesty;  so  pitiful  a  slap,  since  he  will  never 
know  that  Princess  Sylvia  who  won't  marry  him, 
and  Miss  de  Courcy  who  can't,  are  one  and  the 
same.  But,  mother,  I  did  love  him  —  I  did 
love  him  so!" 

"Then  forget  and  forgive — and  be  happy, 
while  you  can." 

"I  can't.  I've  just  told  you  why.  Oh,  do 
let  us  make  our  plans  to  get  out  of  this  hateful 
house  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  Grand  Duchess  resigned  herself  to  the 
inevitable,  and  only  a  deep  sigh  told  the  tale  of 
the  effort  resignation  cost  her.  For  once  she 
was  expected  to  take  the  initiative,  and  the 
responsibility  was  a  stimulant;  this  one  consola 
tion  was  left  her. 

"Well,"  she  said,  after  a  moment's  abstruse 
reflection,  "the  telegram  will  give  us  an  excuse. 
I  was  so  overcome  on  reading  it  that  I  had  to  sit 
down  again  after  getting  suddenly  up  from  my 
chair  and  borrow  the  Baroness's  smelling-salts  - 
poor,  inadequate  Rhaetian  stuff.  Every  one  was 
alarmed,  and  I  explained,  without  going  into 


198   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

particulars,  that  I  had  received  most  disturbing 
news  from  England.  Directly  I  felt  more  like  my 
self,  I  came  upstairs,  requesting  that  you  should 
be  sent  to  me,  when  you  returned  —  though  you 
were  not  to  b#  specially  called.  I  begged  the 
Baroness  not  to  be  anxious,  but  she  said  that, 
before  she  went  to  bed,  I  really  must  allow  her 
to  stop  at  the  door  and  inquire  how  I  was.  We 
might  say  to  her  that  the  telegram  had  compelled 
our  immediate  return  to  England." 

"Listen,"  whispered  Sylvia.  "There's  some 
one  at  the  door  now." 

She  sprang  to  her  feet,  and,  with  the  marvel 
lous  facility  for  meeting  a  conventional  emer 
gency  possessed  by  all  women  in  palace  or 
tenement,  between  the  time  of  rising  and  walking 
to  the  door,  she  had  conquered  the  disorder  of 
her  countenance.  Her  hair  was  smoothed  back 
into  perfection ;  the  laces  on  her  dress  had  fallen 
into  their  original  old  graceful  lines;  her  face, 
though  flushed,  would  show  no  sign  of  tears  in 
the  softly  shaded  light. 

Sylvia  herself  opened  the  door  and  gracefully 
besought  the  inquiring  Baroness  to  come  in. 


"THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND"    199 

Immediately  after  the  scene  in  the  garden,  she 
could  not  have  done  this  so  quietly;  but  she  had 
cried  her  heart  out  now,  and  reviled  the  offender 
to  a  sympathetic  audience,  thus  facilitating  the 
return  of  self-control.  Even  if  the  Baroness  von 
Lynar  guessed  that  she  had  been  weeping,  it 
would  only  be  put  down  to  the  score  of  that 
mysterious  "bad  news." 

"How  good  of  you!"  breathed  the  Grand 
Duchess,  with  a  less  coherent  undertone  of 
appreciation  from  Sylvia.  "Oh,  yes,  thank  you, 
so  much  better;  quite  well  again,  though  still 
very  anxious.  Somebody  must  have  been  kind 
enough  to  tell  dear  Mary,  for  here  she  is,  you 
see;  and  she  and  I  have  been  talking  matters 
over.  We  are  quite  desolated  at  breaking  our 
delightful  visit  suddenly  short,  but  unluckily  it 
can't  be  helped.  This  unfortunate  news  from 
home!  We  must  positively  not  lose  an  hour  in 
returning." 

Baroness  von  Lynar  was  genuinely  discon 
certed,  though  perhaps  her  guests  would  scarcely 
have  been  flattered  had  they  divined  the  true 
cause  of  her  intense  desire  to  detain  them.  Miss 


200   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

de  Courcy  had  been  the  bright  particular  star 
of  the  house  party  at  Lynarberg,  as  the  mistress 
of  the  castle  delicately  declared,  and  it  was 
grievous  that  the  sky  must  be  robbed  of  its 
most  brilliant  ornament.  But  it  was  far  more 
grievous  that  Maximilian  should  be  annoyed, 
and  the  Baroness's  own  pretty,  secret  little 
scheme  probably  be  brought  to  confusion. 

"It  is  too  cruel!"  she  exclaimed,  with 
unwonted  sincerity.  "What  shall  we  do  with 
out  you?  We  could  better  have  spared  any 
others  among  our  guests.  Our  poor  party  will 
be  hopelessly  shattered  by  your  loss.  Could  you 
not  wire  home  that  you  are  coming  at  your 
earliest  convenience,  dear  Lady  de  Courcy,  and 
stay  with  us  at  least  until  the  day  after  to-morrow, 
when  the  Emperor's  visit  will  be  over?" 

"Alas!  I  am  afraid  we  could  not  do  even 
that,"  regretted  the  Grand  Duchess,  her  eyes  on 
Sylvia's  face.  "It  is  necessary  that  we  reach 
England  as  soon  as  possible.  We  were  think 
ing  of  quite  an  early  train  to-morrow.  You  will 
forgive  us,  I  know,  dear  Baroness  von  Lynar; 
but  we  have  both  been  so  upset  by  these  sad 


"  THE  EMPEROR  WILL  UNDERSTAND  "     201 

tidings  that  we  shall  hardly  be  equal  to  facing 
any  of  our  kind  friends  here  again.  These 
things  are  so  unnerving,  you  know --and  I 
give  way  so  easily  of  late  years.  As  a  great 
favour  to  us  both,  pray  mention  to  no  one  that 
we  are  going,  until  we  have  actually  gone.  If 
you  would  allow  us  to  leave  our  adieux  to  be 
said  by  you,  we  would  beg  you  for  a  carriage 
after  an  early  cup  of  coffee  in  our  rooms;  then 
we  could  pick  up  Miss  Collinson  and  the  luggage 
we  left  at  the  Hohenburgerhof,  and  catch  the 
Orient  express  from  Salzbriick  to  Paris." 

The  Baroness  was  aghast  at  her  own  defeat 
and  her  powerlessness  to  retrieve  it.  For  once 
she  failed  in  tact.  "But  the  Emperor?"  she 
exclaimed.  "He  will  be  deeply  hurt  if  he  is 
denied  the  sad  privilege  of  bidding  you  farewell." 

The  Grand  Duchess  hesitated,  and  Sylvia 
entered  the  conversational  lists  for  the  first  time. 
"The  Emperor  will  understand,"  she  said 
quietly;  "I  said  good-bye  to  him  —  for  us  both 
—  to-night." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   LAST   OF   THE   MAGIC   CITRONS 

BREAKFAST  at  Schloss  Lynarberg  was  an 
informal  meal.  Those  who  were  sociably 
inclined  at  that  hour  appeared;  those  who 
loved  not  their  kind  until  later  in  the  day,  broke 
their  fast  in  the  safe  seclusion  of  their  own 
apartments. 

Maximilian  had  shown  himself  at  the  break 
fast-table  every  morning  since  the  beginning  of 
his  visit,  and  it  had  been  Sylvia's  usual  custom 
also  to  be  present.  But  Lady  de  Courcy  invari 
ably  kept  her  room  till  later,  and  on  one  occasion 
the  daughter  had  borne  her  mother  company. 
On  the  morning  after  the  misunderstanding  in 
the  garden,  therefore,  the  Emperor  was  only 
disappointed,  not  surprised,  to  find  that  Sylvia 
did  not  come.  He  had  spent  another  wakeful 
night,  but  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  believe 
that  Sylvia  would  never  listen  to  him,  that  she 

202 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS          203 

would  not  yet  be  brought  to  see  the  future 
through  his  eyes. 

It  was  his  last  whole  day  at  Lynarberg,  but, 
by  his  special  request,  no  regular  programme  of 
entertainment  had  been  made.  As  breakfast 
progressed,  Maximilian  turned  over  in  his  mind 
plan  after  plan  for  another  meeting  with  Sylvia, 
and  hoped  that,  by  this  time,  she  would  be  as 
ready  to  receive  his  overtures  as  he  to  make 
them.  He  longed  to  write  her  a  letter,  imploring 
her  to  come  to  him;  but  feared,  unless  he  could 
make  his  first  appeal  in  person,  that  he  might 
defeat  his  own  object.  It  would  be  better, 
perhaps,  to  wait  until  she  was  actually  in  his 
presence,  then  carry  her  away  from  the  eyes  of 
others  by  some  bold  stroke. 

But  she  did  not  come,  even  when  for  half  an 
hour  they  had  all  been  strolling  in  the  quaint 
pleasaunce,  where  the  white  peacocks  spread 
their  jewelled  tails  and  shrilly  disputed  for 
possession  of  the  sundial.  The  Baroness,  who 
walked  by  the  Emperor's  side,  and  appeared 
singularly  distraite,  despite  her  constant  efforts 
at  repartee,  at  length  proposed  that  they  should 


204    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

row  out  again  to  Cupid's  Isle.  The  morning 
was  so  fine,  and  the  red  October  lilies  which  had 
been  in  bud  there  the  other  day  ought  to  be  open 
by  now. 

Maximilian  approved  the  idea.  "Shall  you 
not  send  for  Miss  de  Courcy?"  he  inquired, 
with  a  simulated  carelessness  at  which  Malvine 
could  have  laughed  —  had  she  not  been  more  in 
clined  to  weep.  "  I  think  I  remember  hearing  her 
say  that  there  are  no  such  lilies  in  England,  and 
that  she  would  like  to  see  them  in  fuller  bloom." 

The  Baroness  glanced  quickly  behind  her. 
None  of  the  others  were  within  earshot,  if  she 
spoke  in  a  low  voice.  "Oh,  but  you  have  for 
gotten,  have  you  not,  Your  Majesty  ?  Miss  de 
Courcy  and  her  mother  have  already  gone." 

He  turned  so  white,  under  the  coat  of  brown 
the  mountains  had  given,  that  Malvine  was 
startled.  She  had  believed  Sylvia  —  more  or  less 
—  supposing  until  now  that  the  Emperor  had 
actually  been  made  aware  of  the  intended  flitting. 
There  had  been  an  affecting  parting,  perhaps,  she 
had  told  herself;  and  for  his  sake  she  had 
refrained  from  mentioning  the  De  Courcys  at 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS  205 

breakfast  in  the  presence  of  other  guests.  For 
the  last  few  moments  she  had  been  impatiently 
waiting  for  Maximilian  to  introduce  the  subject, 
hoping  that  he  might  be  confidentially  inclined; 
but  it  was  a  genuine  surprise  to  discover  that  he 
had  really  been  kept  in  ignorance.  Malvine  was 
very  angry  with  Sylvia's  deception ;  for,  had  she 
dreamed,  in  time,  that  the  Emperor  did  not  know 
the  girl  was  going,  she  would  slyly  have  given 
him  a  chance  to  follow,  if  he  chose.  Now,  it 
was  in  all  probability  already  too  late  for  this. 

"Where  have  they  gone?"  he  asked  —  the 
only  sign  of  feeling  in  the  pallor  of  his  face  and 
the  fire  in  his  eyes. 

"To  Salzbriick,  Your  Majesty." 

"Oh,  is  that  all?  Then  they  are  coming 
back;  or,  at  least,  they  are  not  leaving  Rhaetia  ?" 

"I  am  afraid  they  are  leaving." 

"When?" 

"To-day,  by  the  Orient  express.  I  did  all  I 
could  to  keep  them.  But  some  bad  news 
reached  Lady  de  Courcy  last  night,  in  a  telegram 
from  England.  They  both  insisted  that  they 
must  go  home  at  once,  begging  as  a  favour, 


206   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

since  they  felt  unequal  to  farewells,  that  no  one 
should  know  until  they  were  gone  —  except,  of 
course,  Your  Majesty.  Miss  de  Courcy  said  that 
—  you  knew;  that  you  would  understand." 

The  Emperor  was  silent  for  a  moment,  and 
Malvine  would  have  glanced  up  at  him  from 
under  her  artificially  darkened  lashes,  if  she  had 
dared.  But  she  did  not  dare.  Still,  she  was 
beginning  to  hope  that  the  feeling  she  would 
fain  have  seen  implanted  in  his  heart  had 
already  taken  root  so  deeply  that  it  would  not 
soon  perish.  In  that  case,  after  all,  she  would 
have  thwarted  the  Chancellor  —  for  a  time  at 
least;  since  a  man,  even  when  he  is  an  emperor, 
cannot  readily  be  persuaded  to  marry  one  woman 
when  his  heart  is  aching  with  love  for  another. 

When  Maximilian  did  speak,  his  voice  was 
very  quiet  —  aggravatingly  quiet,  thought  Mal 
vine --but  his  eyes  were  even  brighter  than 
before.  It  was  a  dangerous,  rather  than  a 
pleasant  brightness;  and  Malvine,  who  had  no 
cause  to  fear  its  menace  for  herself,  wondered 
what  the  light  betokened. 

"Miss  de  Courcy  did  speak  of  leaving  earlier 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS  207 

than  she  had  expected,"  he  said.  "But  if  she 
gave  me  reason  to  suppose  it  would  be  so  soon, 
I  certainly  did  not  understand.  I  am  sorry  that 
there  was  bad  news  from  England." 

So  also  was  Mai  vine;  but  she  began  now  to 
ask  herself  if  the  news  alone  had  sufficed  to 
snatch  her  guests  so  suddenly  away. 

"Is  it  long  since  they  left  Lynarberg?"  the 
Emperor  added. 

"They  went  at  about  half-past  seven  this 
morning,  before  any  one  was  up,  except  my 
husband  and  myself  and  the  servants.  By  half- 
past  eight  they  would  have  joined  their  com 
panion,  who  remained  at  the  Hohenburgerhof. 
Then  there  would  have  been  a  little  packing  to 
oversee,  perhaps,  and  —  the  Orient  express  is 
due  in  Salzbruck,  I  think,  at  precisely  one 
o'clock.  It  is  now"  -she  glanced  half- apolo 
getically  at  the  watch  in  her  bracelet  —  "it  is 
now  five  minutes  past  twelve,  so  that  in  less  than 
an  hour  the  prettiest  woman  who  ever  came  to 
Salzbriick  will  have  vanished  again."  And,  as 
Malvine  von  Lynar  spoke,  she  sighed. 

The  blood  rushed  to  Maximilian's  face.     He 


208   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

had  a  choice  between  two  evils.  If  he  pursued 
and  overtook  the  girl,  he  might  persuade  her  to 
hear  reason;  at  least,  she  would  see  that  he 
was  no  laggard  in  love.  But  to  follow,  to  cut 
short  the  visit  at  Lynarberg,  which  should  not 
have  ended  till  next  day,  would  be  virtually  to 
take  the  world  into  his  secret.  The  Baroness 
would  know;  others  would  suspect.  A  month 
ago  such  a  question  (when  yielding  to  inclina 
tion  meant  a  humbling  of  his  pride  as  man  and 
Emperor)  would  have  decided  itself.  But 
within  these  last  days  Maximilian  had  learned 
that  his  valued  strength  of  will  in  the  past  had 
been  ruled,  more  or  less,  by  the  limitations 
of  his  desire.  Now,  he  wanted  to  do  a  certain 
thing  more  than  he  had  ever  wanted  anything 
in  the  whole  course  of  his  life,  and  the  question 
was  mentally  settled  as  quickly  as  it  would  have 
been  a  month  ago ;  the  only  difference  being  that 
it  was  settled  in  the  opposite  way. 

"Baroness  von  Lynar,  you  and  I  are  old 
friends,"  he  said  hastily. 

"I  value  your  friendship  above  all  things, 
Your  Majesty,  and  would  keep  it  at  any  cost." 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS          209 

"Then  keep  something  else  for  me  as  well; 
a  secret  —  though  it  may  not  be  a  secret  long. 
You  have  seen  me  with  Miss  de  Courcy.  And 
you  have  guessed  something,  perhaps?" 

"Women  are  ever  quick  to  jump  at  romantic 
conclusions.  But  - 

"  I  am  answered.  A  moment  has  come  when 
I  must  choose  between  speaking  frankly  with 
you  or  leaving  you  to  suspect  what  you  will. 
I  choose  frankness.  There's  nearly  an  hour  yet 
before  the  Orient  express  leaves  Salzbruck,  and 
you  say  Miss  de  Courcy  is  going  with  it.  I 
can't  let  her  go  without  seeing  her  again.  I  want 
—  but  you  know  what  I  want." 

"  You  want  your  horse  and  your  aide-de-camp's 
horse  saddled;  you  want  to  ride  away  now,  at 
once,  to  catch  the  train  before  it  leaves  the  stat 
ion;  and  you  want  me  to  give  some  plausible 
reason  which  will  account  to  every  one  for  your 
sudden  departure.  Anything,  so  that  it  is  not 
connected  with  Miss  de  Courcy.  Am  I  right  ?" 

"Absolutely.  If  I  get  off  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  I  can  just  do  it." 

"I  will  slip  into  the  house,  Your  Majesty,  and 


210   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

send  a  servant  at  once  to  the  stables.  Captain 
von  Loewenfetein  shall  be  summoned,  and  you 
can  be  on  the  road  in  ten  minutes." 

"I'll  go  with  you  to  the  house,  my  friend.5' 

"Everybody  shall  be  given  to  understand  that 
you  are  called  away  from  Lynarberg  on  pressing 
business,  but  that  you  expect  to  return  in  the 
afternoon.  If  you  find  it  best  not  to  come,  send 
a  wire  saying  that  you  are  detained.  All  will  be 
deeply  disappointed;  but  no  one  will  guess  the 
truth,  and  more  than  that,  no  one  will  talk." 

By  this  time  they  were  at  the  house  steps. 
Malvine  flew  in  to  give  orders,  while  Maximilian 
waited,  his  eyes  on  his  watch.  Four  minutes 
later  Captain  von  Loewenstein,  the  Emperor's 
aide-de-camp  (who  had  been  in  the  act  of  pro 
posing  to  pretty  Baroness  Marie  Vedera),  stood 
ready  to  receive  his  master's  orders.  Ten 
minutes  more,  and  the  two  soldierly  figures  rode 
at  a  gallop  out  from  the  park  gates  at  Lynarberg. 

"We're  going  to  the  station,  to  catch  the 
Orient  express,  Von  Loewenstein,"  said  Maxi 
milian.  "I  have  —  promised  myself  to  say 
good-bye  to  some  friends." 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS          211 

:<  Were  you  aware,  Your  Majesty,"  asked  the 
aide-de-camp,  "  that  the  time-table  has  just  been 
changed  for  the  autumn  ?  The  Orient  express 
leaves  ten  minutes  earlier  than  it  has  during  the 


summer." 


The  Emperor  used  a  strong  word.  "Are  you 
certain,  Von  Loewenstein  ?" 

"Certain,  Your  Majesty.  I  looked  out  the 
time  for  my  sister,  who  goes  to  Paris  next  week. 
The  new  table  only  came  into  use  yesterday." 

"  I'll  kill  my  horse  under  me  rather  than  lose 
the  train,"  said  the  Emperor.  And  he  loved 
Arabian  Selim  well,  as  Von  Loewenstein  knew. 

"  We've  just  a  chance  of  doing  it  without  that, 
Your  Majesty.  It's  scarcely  five  miles  now." 

They  rode  as  if  their  lives  were  at  stake.  And 
they  rode  without  a  word.  At  last  they  came  to 
the  suburbs,  then  into  the  outskirts  of  the  town. 
In  the  distance,  a  church  clock  chimed  the  quar 
ter  before  one.  The  two  looked  at  each  other. 
Five  minutes,  and  the  station  was  but  a  mile 
away.  They  would  do  the  trick  yet ! 

The  upright  line  between  Maximilian's  black 
brows  relaxed.  He  threw  up  his  head  and  smiled 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

like  a  boy,  looking  —  Loewenstein  thought  — 
as  he  looked  when  they  camped  in  the  Weisshorn 
and  shot  chamois. 

'You  shall  have  something  to  make  you 
remember  to-day,  if  all  goes  well,"  he  said  to  the 
aide-de-camp;  then  drew  in  his  breath  sharply, 
for  Selim  had  stumbled.  A  dozen  yards  away, 
on  the  dusty  white  of  the  road,  lay  a  black  cres 
cent  —  Selim's  shoe. 

Quick  as  light,  Maximilian  sprang  off.  "  Give 
me  your  mare,  von  Loewenstein,"  he  said.  "I 
must  go  on  alone." 

So  they  made  the  change,  and  the  younger 
man  watched  his  master  disappear  in  a  cloud  of 
dust,  as  he,  on  Selim's  back,  followed  slowly 
after.  And  he  wished  that  he  knew  whether  the 
little  Baroness  Marie  would  have  said  yes  or  no, 
and  whether  the  Emperor's  business  with  the 
Orient  express  were  business  of  state  or  love. 

Kohinoor  had  not  the  staying  power  of  Selim  ; 
she  was  good  for  a  spurt  of  speed;  but  she  knew 
when  she  had  had  enough,  and  no  mortal  power 
could  persuade  her  otherwise,  when  she  thought 
that  such  a  time  had  arrived.  People  stared 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS  213 

to  see  a  man  urging  a  smoking  thoroughbred 
through  the  broad  Bahnhofstrasse  in  Salzbriick, 
at  a  speed  forbidden  within  the  town  limits,  and 
stared  still  more  at  beholding  a  gendarme  leap 
forward  with  a  warning  shout,  then  blunder 
back  again  speechless,  with  a  crimson  face  under 
his  shining  helmet.  Horse  and  man  dashed  by 
so  madly  that  few  could  tell  whether  the  rider 
were  a  person  of  importance  at  the  Court,  or  a 
stranger.  But  a  soldier  of  cavalry  swaggering 
away  from  barracks  with  a  friend,  said,  "  Do  you 
knowr  who  that  is?" 

"By  the  way  he  rides  I  should  say  it  was  his 
Satanic  Majesty,"  declared  the  other,  a  country 
recruit. 

"You're  not  far  wrong,  maybe;  but,  all  the 
same,  it  is  His  Majesty  our  Emperor,"  replied 
the  first. 

The  hands  on  the  big,  white  clock-face  looking 
down  from  the  Bahnhof  tower  pointed  at  five 
minutes  to  one,  when  Maximilian  reined  up  the 
mare  before  the  main  entrance,  and  bade  a 
dienstmann  hold  his  horse,  as  if  he  had  been 
a  common  townsman.  Something  the  fellow 


214   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

shouted  about  being  there  to  carry  luggage,  not 
to  hold  horses  (for  he  did  not  know  the  Emperor 
by  sight) ,  but  Maximilian  waited  neither  to  hear 
nor  argue.  He  sprang  up  the  broad  stone  stair 
way,  three  steps  at  a  time. 

"Has  the  Orient  express  gone  yet?"  he 
demanded  of  the  man  at  the  door  of  the  depar 
ture  platform. 

"Five  minutes  ago,"  returned  the  official,  not 
troubling  to  look  up. 

An  unreasoning  fury  against  fate  raged  in 
Maximilian's  breast.  He  ruled  this  country,  yet 
everything  in  it  seemed  to  combine  in  a  plot  to 
thwart  his  dearest  desire.  For  a  moment  he  felt 
as  if  he  had  come  up  against  a  blank  wall  and 
saw  no  present  way  of  getting  round  it ;  but  that 
was  only  for  an  instant,  since  the  Emperor  was 
not  a  man  of  slow  decisions.  His  first  step  was 
to  inquire  what  was  the  earliest  stop  made  by 
the  Orient  express.  In  three  hours,  he  learned, 
it  would  reach  Wandeck,  the  last  station  on  the 
Rhaetian  side  of  the  frontier.  What  was  the 
next  train,  then,  leaving  Salzbriick  for  Wandeck  ? 
In  twenty  minutes,  a  personenzug  would  go  out. 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS  215 

After  that,  there  would  be  no  other  train  for  two 
hours.  The  personenzug  would  arrive  at  Wan- 
deck  only  fifty  minutes  earlier  than  the  schnellzug 
following  so  much  later,  therefore  most  people 
preferred  to  wait.  But  Maximilian,  having 
gathered  this  intelligence,  was  not  of  the  major 
ity;  he  chose  the  fifty  minutes  in  Wandeck,  for 
even  if  he  courted  publicity  by  engaging  a 
special,  so  long  a  time  must  pass  before  it  could 
be  ready  that  he  would  gain  no  advantage. 

Before  taking  his  ticket,  however,  he  tele 
phoned  the  Hohenburgerhof,  to  satisfy  himself 
beyond  doubt  that  the  De  Courcys  had  actually 
gone.  There  was  a  delay  of  a  few  minutes 
before  the  answer  came;  but  presently  he  was 
informed  that  the  ladies  had  left  the  hotel.  This 
decided  his  plan  of  action  once  for  all,  and  the 
short  remaining  interval  before  the  departure 
of  the  slow  train  he  snatched  for  writing  out 
two  telegrams,  one  to  Baroness  von  Lynar,  the 
other  to  a  person  more  important. 

The  first  words  of  the  latter  ran  fluently. 
"  Miss  Mary  de  Courcy,  Orient  express,  care  of 
the  stationmaster,  Wandeck,"  he  wrote.  "  I  beg 


216   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

that  you  will  leave  the  train  here  and  wait  for 
me.  I  am  following,  and  will  arrive  in  Wandeek 
three  hours  after  you.  I  will  look  for  you  and 
hope  to  find  you  at  the  Maximilianhof." 

So  far  it  was  very  simple.  He  had  expressed 
his  wish  and  signified  his  intention,  which  would 
have  been  enough  if  Miss  de  Courcy  were  a  loyal 
subject  of  his  own.  But  unfortunately  she  had 
exhibited  no  signs  of  subjection;  and  the  ques 
tion  arose,  would  she  grant  the  most  ardently 
expressed  request,  unless  he  could  offer  some 
new  inducement  ?  On  reflection,  he  was  rue 
fully  compelled  to  admit  that  she  probably 
would  not.  Yet  what  had  he  to  urge  that  he 
had  not  urged  last  night  ?  What  could  he  say, 
at  this  eleventh  hour,  which  would  keep  her 
from  passing  forever  beyond  his  dominions  and 
beyond  hope  of  recall  ? 

As  he  stood,  pen  in  hand  (each  moment  of 
hesitation  at  the  risk  of  missing  his  chosen  train) , 
a  curious  memory  came  to  him.  He  recalled  a 
fairy  tale  which  had  been  a  favourite  of  his 
childhood,  and  had  helped  to  form  his  resolve 
that,  when  he  grew  to  manhood,  he  would  never 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS          217 

miss  an  opportunity  through  vacillation.  The 
story  had  for  its  hero  a  prince  who  went  abroad 
so  seek  his  fortune,  and  received  from  one  of  the 
Fates  three  magic  citrons  which  he  was  told  to 
cut  by  the  side  of  a  fountain.  Obeying,  from 
the  first  citron  sprang  a  beautiful  maiden,  who 
demanded  a  drink  of  water;  and  while  the 
prince  gazed  in  amazement,  vanished.  With 
the  second  citron,  it  was  the  same;  and  the  third 
maiden  would  have  been  irrevocably  lost  also, 
had  not  the  youth  recovered  his  presence  of 
mind  at  the  last  moment. 

Now,  Maximilian  said  to  himself,  his  knife 
was  on  the  rind  of  the  last  citron.  Let  him 
think  well  before  he  cut,  that  his  one  remaining 
chance  of  happiness  might  not  vanish  like  the 
two  fairy  maidens. 

He  had  believed  it  impossible  for  a  man  to 
love  a  woman  more  than  he  loved  Mary  de 
Courcy;  but,  knowing  that  he  was  on  the  point 
of  losing  her,  he  found  his  love  a  thousandfold 
greater  than  he  had  known.  The  sacrifice  he 
had  been  ready  to  make  had  loomed  large  in 
his  eyes;  now,  it  was  nothing,  since  it  had  not 


218   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

sufficed  to  win  or  keep  her.  What,  then,  could 
he  do  ?  What  other  resource  had  he  left  ? 

Suddenly  it  seemed  that  a  great  light  shone 
before  his  eyes,  like  a  meteor  bursting,  and  a 
voice  whispered  in  his  ear  a  thought  that  ran 
like  fire  through  his  veins. 

Why  not?  he  asked  of  his  heart.  Who  was 
bold  enough  to  say  "no"  to  the  Emperor's 
"yes"?  Had  he  not  proved  more  than  once 
that  his  strength,  his  will,  made  him  a  law  unto 
himself  ? 

A  dark  flush  stained  his  face,  and  he  wrote 
quickly  on  and  on.  When  he  had  finished,  and 
signed  his  telegram  "The  Chamois  Hunter," 
he  hurried  away  to  buy  a  ticket,  and  was  only 
just  in  time.  He  sprang  into  an  empty  first- 
class  carriage,  and  threw  himself  into  a  seat  as 
the  train  began  to  move  slowly  out  of  the  station. 

In  his  brain  rang  the  intoxicating  music  of 
his  great  resolve.  He  could  see  nothing,  think 
of  nothing  but  that.  His  arms  ached  to  clasp 
the  girl  he  loved;  his  lips,  cheated  last  night, 
already  felt  her  kisses.  For  she  would  give  them 
now,  and  she  would  give  herself.  He  was  tread- 


LAST  OF  THE  MAGIC  CITRONS  219 

ing  the  past  of  an  Empire  under  foot  to  win  her, 
and  every  throb  of  the  engine  brought  them 
nearer  together. 

But  such  moments  of  exaltation  come  seldom 
in  a  lifetime.  The  heart  of  man  or  woman  could 
not  go  on  forever  playing  the  wild  refrain  of 
their  accompaniment;  and  so  it  was  that,  as  the 
minutes  passed,  the  song  of  the  blood  in  Maxi 
milian's  veins  fell  to  a  minor  key.  He  thought 
still  of  Sylvia,  and  thought  of  her  with  passion 
which  would  be  satisfied  at  any  cost;  but  he 
thought  of  lesser  things  as  well.  He  viewed  the 
course  which  his  meditated  action  laid  out  before 
him,  like  a  man  who  rides  a  race  for  life  or  death 
across  strange  country,  where  none  have  passed 
before. 

There  was  no  one  on  earth  whom  Maximilian 
of  Rhaetia  feared,  but  there  was  one  to  whom  he 
owed  much,  and  whom  it  would  be  grievous  to 
offend.  In  his  father's  day,  one  man,  old  even 
then,  had  built  upon  the  foundations  of  a  disas 
trous  past  a  great  and  prosperous  nation.  This 
man  had  been  to  Maximilian  what  his  father 
could  never  have  been;  and,  without  the  mag- 


220    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

netic  gift  of  inspiring  affection,  had  instilled 
respect  and  gratitude  in  the  breast  of  an  enthusi 
astic  boy. 

"Poor  old  Von  Markstein ! "  the  Emperor  said 
to  himself.  "He  will  feel  this  sorely.  I  would 
spare  him  if  I  could;  yet  I  cannot  live  my  life 
for  him  -  -" 

He  sighed,  and  looked  up  frowning  at  some 
sudden  sound.  Like  a  spirit  called  from  the 
vasty  deep,  there  stood  the  Chancellor  at  the 
door  between  Maximilian's  compartment  and 
the  next. 


CHAPTER  XII 

BETWEEN   MAN   AND   MAN 

OLD  "Iron  Heart"  was  dressed  in  the  long, 
double-breasted  gray  overcoat,  and  wore, 
pulled  over  his  eyes,  the  gray  slouch  hat,  in 
which  all  snapshot  photographs  (no  others 
had  ever  been  taken)  represented  him. 

At  sight  of  the  Emperor,  leaning  with  folded 
arms  against  the  red  plush  cushions,  he  took 
off  his  famous  hat,  to  show  the  bald,  shining 
dome  of  his  great  head,  fringed  with  hair  of 
curiously  mingled  black  and  white. 

"Good  day,  Your  Majesty,"  he  observed, 
with  no  sign  of  surprise  in  voice  or  countenance. 

The  train  rocked  from  side  to  side,  and  it 
was  with  difficulty  that  the  old  man  kept  his 
footing;  but  he  stood  rigidly  erect,  supporting 
himself  in  the  doorway,  until  the  Emperor 
invited  him  to  enter  and  be  seated. 

"I  am  glad  that  you  are  well  enough  to  travel, 
221 


222   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Chancellor,"  cried  Maximilian.  "We  had  none 
too  encouraging  an  account  of  you  from  Cap 
tain  Otto  the  day  before  yesterday." 

"I  travel  because  you  travel,  Your  Majesty," 
said 'Iron  Heart." 

They  now  sat  facing  each  other,  on  opposite 
seats,  and  the  Emperor,  combating  a  boyish 
sense  of  guilt,  stared  fixedly  at  the  square 
visage,  on  which  the  afternoon  light  cruelly 
scored  the  detail  of  each  wrinkle. 

"Soh?"  said  Maximilian. 

"Your  Majesty,  I  have  served  you,  and  your 
father  before  you.  I  think  you  trust  me  some 
what?" 

"No  man  more.  But  this  sounds  a  momen 
tous  preface.  Is  it  possible  you  find  it  neces 
sary  to  Mead  up'  to  the  subject,  if  I  can  have 
the  pleasure  of  doing  you  a  favour?" 

"It  is  no  preface,  Your  Majesty.  I  am  too 
blunt  a  man  to  begin  with  prefaces  when  I 
serve  in  the  capacity,  not  of  diplomat,  but  friend. 
For  you  have  allowed  me  to  call  myself  your 
friend." 

"I  have  asked  it  of  you." 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  223 

"If  I  seemed  to  'lead  up'  to  what  I  have  to 
say,  it  is  only  for  the  sake  of  explanation.  You 
are  wondering,  perhaps,  how  I  knew  that  you 
would  travel  to-day,  and  why,  knowing  it,  I 
ventured  to  follow.  I  learned  your  intention 
by  accident"  (the  Chancellor  did  not,  for  all 
his  boasted  bluntness,  tell  what  lay  behind  that 
accident) ;  "  wishing  much  to  talk  over  with  you 
a  pressing  matter  which  brooks  no  delay,  I  took 
this  liberty,  and  seized  the  opportunity  of  speak 
ing  with  you  alone.  Some  men  in  my  situa 
tion  would  think  it  wiser  to  pretend  that  busi 
ness  of  their  own  had  brought  them  on  the 
journey,  and  that  the  meeting  had  come  about 
by  chance.  But  I  am  not  one  to  work  in  the 
dark,  and  I  want  Your  Majesty  to  know  the 
truth."  Which  no  doubt  he  did;  but  perhaps 
not  quite  the  whole  truth. 

"You  raise  my  curiosity,"  said  Maximilian. 

"I  will  not  keep  it  waiting  long,"  said  "Iron 
Heart."  "Have  I  your  indulgence  to  speak 
frankly,  not  wholly  as  a  servant  of  the  Emperor 
to  his  master,  but  as  man  to  man  —  an  old  man 
to  a  young  one?" 


224   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  would  have  you  speak  in  no  other  way," 
answered  Maximilian;  but  he  uttered  the  words 
with  a  certain  constraint,  and  the  softness  died 
out  of  his  eyes. 

"I  have  had  a  letter  from  Friedrich,  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Abruzzia.  It  has  come  to 
his  ears  that  there  is  a  reason  for  your  Imperial 
Majesty's  delay  in  following  up  the  first  over 
tures  for  an  alliance  with  his  family.  Gossip 
has  told  him  that  Your  Majesty's  affections 
have  become  otherwise  engaged,  and  he  has 
written  to  me  as  a  friend,  asking  me  to  contra 
dict  or  confirm  the  rumour." 

"I  am  not  sure  that  negotiations  had  pro 
gressed  far  enough  in  that  matter  to  give 
him  the  right  of  inquiry,"  said  Maximilian, 
flushing. 

The  old  man  spread  out  his  hands  —  the 
pathetic  hands  of  age  —  in  a  deprecatory  ges 
ture.  "I  fear,  in  my  zeal  for  Your  Majesty's 
welfare  and  the  welfare  of  Rhaetia,  I  somewhat 
exceeded  my  instructions,"  he  confessed.  "My 
one  excuse  is,  that  I  believed  your  mind  to  be 
entirely  made  up.  I  still  believe  so.  I  would 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  225 

listen  to  no  one  who  told  me  otherwise.     And  I 
will  inform  Friedrich  that  - 

"You  must  even  get  yourself  and  me  out  of 
the  scrape  as  gracefully  as  you  can,  since  you 
admit  you  got  us  into  it,"  broke  in  the  Emperor, 
sinfully  glad  of  the  chance  to  transfer  a  fraction 
of  the  blame  to  other  shoulders.  "If  Princess 
Sylvia  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald  is  as  charming  as 
she  is  said  to  be,  her  only  difficulty  will  be  to 
choose  a  husband,  not  to  get  one.  For  once 
gossip  has  told  the  truth,  and  I  would  not  pay 
the  Princess  so  poor  a  compliment  as  to  ask 
for  her  hand  when  my  heart  is  irrevocably  given 
to  another  woman." 

"It  is  of  that  other  I  would  speak  with  you 
also,  Your  Majesty.  Gossip  has  named  her. 
May  I  do  the  same  ?" 

"I  will  save  you  the  trouble,  Chancellor," 
retorted  Maximilian,  "for  I  am  not  ashamed 
that  at  last  the  common  fate  of  all  has  over 
taken  me  —  common,  because  they  say  every 
man  loves  once  before  he  dies;  yet  uncommon, 
because  no  man  ever  loved  such  a  woman. 
There  is  no  one  in  the  world  like  Miss  de  Courcy 


22G   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

—  the  English  lady  who  saved  my  life  on  the  eve 
of  my  birthday,  as  you  know." 

"It  is  natural  that  you  should  feel  grateful, 
Your  Majesty." 

"It  is  natural  that  I  should  feel  love;  impos 
sible  that  I  should  not  feel  it." 

"Natural  that  being  still  young  and  inexper 
ienced  in  such  matters,  Yrour  Majesty  should 
mistake  gratitude  for  love;  impossible  that  you 
should  let  the  mistake  continue." 

"If  it  were  a  mistake!  I  am  keeping  to 
my  bargain,  Chancellor,  and  talking  with  you 
man  to  man,  for  I  know  you  won't  try  me 
too  far.  In  such  a  connection  it  would  be 
better  not  to  mention  the  word  'mistake.' 
I  am  glad  that  you  followed  me,  for  I  may 
as  well  say  that  I  meant  you  should  know  my 
intentions  within  a  few  days.  You,  of  course, 
would  have  known  before  any  one." 

"Intentions,  Your  Majesty?  I  fear  I  grow 
old  and  slow  of  understanding." 

"For  you  to  be  slow  of  understanding  would 
be  a  change  indeed.  I  spoke  of  my  intentions 
toward  Miss  de  Courcy." 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  227 

"You  would  make  the  lady  some  handsome 
present,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  your  indebt 
edness  ?" 

"Whether  handsome  or  not  would  be  largely 
a  matter  of  opinion,"  said  the  Emperor,  smil 
ing  for  the  first  time.  "I  am  making  her  a 
present  of  myself." 

The  old  man  had  sat  with  his  chin  sunk 
into  his  short  neck,  peering  out  from  under  his 
brows  in  a  way  he  had;  but  he  lifted  his  head 
suddenly,  and  there  was  a  look  in  his  eyes  like 
that  of  an  animal  who  scents  danger  from  an 
unexpected  quarter. 

"Your  Majesty!"  he  exclaimed  incredulously. 
"You  are  your  father's  son.  You  are  Rhaetia. 
Your  standard  of  honour  cannot  be  soiled  for  a 
woman's  sake." 

"You  misunderstand  me,"  said  Maximilian, 
in  haste.  "I  speak  of  marriage." 

The  Chancellor's  jaw  dropped,  and  the  warm 
mahogany  hue  of  his  skin  paled  to  a  sickly  yel 
low.  For  a  moment  his  lips  quivered  in  a  vain 
effort  to  formulate  words,  but  he  fought  with 
his  weakness  and  conquered. 


228   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  had  dreamed  of  nothing  as  bad  as  this, 
Your  Majesty,"  he  blurted  out,  with  no  sugaring 
of    the    truth    this    time.     "I    had    heard    th< 
rumour  connecting  your  most  august  name  with 
that   of   a   stranger   from    another   country.     I 
feared  a  young  man's  impulsiveness.     I  dreaded 
a  scandal.     But  —  forgive  me,  Your  Majesty, 
this  thought  of  yours  is  no  less  than  madness. 
For  a  man  in  your  position,  a  morganatic  mar 
riage  would  spell  ruin  - 

"A  morganatic  marriage  was  in  my  mind,  I 
admit,"  the  Emperor  cut  him  short  once  more. 
"But  I  saw  the  unwisdom,  the  injustice  of  that, 
and  decided  differently." 

"Praise  be  to  heaven!"  devoutly  ejaculated 
the  Chancellor,  who,  in  calmer  moments,  be 
lieved  himself  an  atheist. 

"I  decided  that,  rather  than  lose  something 
dearer  than  life,  as  dear  as  honour,  I  would 
make  this  lady  —  this  peerless  lady  —  Empress 
of  Rhaetia,"  Maximilian  went  on. 

With  a  cry  the  Chancellor  sprang  up,  the  veins 
in  his  forehead  full  to  bursting.  His  eyes  glared 
like  those  of  a  bull  that  receives  the  death-stroke. 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  229 

His  working  lips  and  the  hollow  sound  in  his 
throat  alarmed  the  Emperor,  who,  for  a  few 
grim  seconds,  feared  the  worst.  But  the  iron 
heart  of  old  Eberhard  von  Markstein  was  not 
to  be  stilled  by  a  single  blow. 

He  muttered  a  word  which  the  younger  man 
ignored,  though  it  smote  his  ears  sharply.  Then, 
after  a  silence  potent  with  meaning,  and  punc 
tuated  with  a  gasp,  the  Chancellor  "  found 
himself"  again. 

"No,  Your  Majesty;  no,  I  say!"  he  panted. 

"But  I  say  yes,  and  no  man  shall  give  me 
nay.  I  have  thought  it  all  out  and  I  see  the 
path  before  me,"  insisted  Maximilian.  "I 
will  make  her  a  countess  first;  she  shall  be 
Countess  of  Salzbriick.  Later,  she  shall  be 
Empress." 

"Your  Majesty,  it  is  impossible." 

"Who  dares  say  it  is  impossible?  Answer 
me  that,  Von  Markstein.  She  is  already  a 
lady  of  unimpeachable  breeding,  reputation, 
and  birth " 

"Your  Majesty's  pardon,  while  /  say  it  is 
impossible  —  I,  Von  Markstein.  For  I  tell  you 


230    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

she  has  neither  the  position  nor  the  birth  that 
she  claims,  and  I  can  prove  it!" 

Maximilian  turned  on  him  fiercely;  then  the 
old  face,  so  closely  associated  with  every  crisis 
of  his  life,  appealed  to  his  youth  and  to  his 
manhood.  "Take  care,  Von  Markstein,"  he 
said,  but  in  a  different  tone  from  that  which 
he  had  meant  to  use. 

The  Chancellor  —  for  all  his  apparent  brus- 
querie,  a  diplomat  before  he  was  a  man  —  was 
quick  to  see  and  understand  the  change,  as 
quick  to  take  advantage. 

"Punish  me  as  you  will,  Your  Majesty,"  he 
said,  making  no  further  effort  to  control  the 
shaking  of  his  voice  and  hands,  since  age  and 
infirmity  were  at  this  moment  his  best  advo 
cates.  "  I  am  an  old  man ;  my  work  for  you  and 
yours  is  nearly  done.  Cheerfully  will  I  bow 
to  dismissal,  if  my  last  effort  in  your  service 
may  save  the  ship  of  state  from  wreck.  I 
would  not  speak  what  I  do  not  know ;  and  I  do 
know  that  the  two  English  ladies  who  have 
been  staying  at  the  Schloss  Lynarberg  are  not 
the  persons  they  pretend  to  be." 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  231 

"Who  has  been  lying  to  you,  Chancellor?" 
cried  Maximilian,  who  held  the  temper  he  vowed 
not  to  lose  in  clenched  hands. 

"To  me,  no  one.  To  Your  Majesty,  to  society 
in  Salzbriick,  two  adventuresses  have  lied." 

The  Emperor  leapt  to  his  feet.  "  If  you  were 
a  young  man,  I  would  kill  you  for  that,"  he  said. 

"I  know  you  would.  Even  as  it  is,  my  life  is 
yours.  But,  for  God's  sake,  for  your  dead 
father's  sake,  hear  me  first." 

Maximilian  stared  out  of  the  window  at  the 
vanishing  landscape,  his  lips  a  tense  wThite  line. 
Presently  he  sat  down. 

"Very  well,  I  will  hear  you,"  he  said.  "Be 
cause  I  do  not  fear  to  hear  anything  that  you 
can  say." 

Already  the  Chancellor  had  marshalled  his 
array  of  facts  in  their  proper  order,  and  now  he 
lost  no  time  in  seizing  the  opening  offered,  lest 
—  before  all  he  had  to  say  was  said  —  the 
narrow  way  should  close  again. 

"When  I  heard  of  Your  Majesty's  growing 
admiration  for  the  lady  who  was  fortunate 
enough  to  save  your  life,"  he  began,  "I  looked 


232   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

for  her  name  and  her  mother's  in  a  book  which 
the  English  nation  values  next  to  the  Bible.  It 
is  called  'Burke's  Peerage.'  There  I  found  the 
name  of  Lady  de  Courcy,  widow  of  a  certain 
Sir  Thomas,  Baron;  mother  of  a  son,  still  a 
child,  and  of  one  living  daughter,  much  older, 
a  young  woman  with  many  names  and  twenty- 
eight  years." 

The  Emperor,  who  had  been  frowning  into 
space,  turned  a  quick  look  of  surprise  on  his 
Chancellor.  Beginning  to  speak,  he  changed 
his  mind,  and  bit  his  lip  instead. 

For  a  second  the  Chancellor  paused,  hoping 
for  the  lead  which  he  had  expected  here;  but 
finding  that  it  did  not  come,  he  went  on 

"I  had  seen  the  ladies  at  Your  Majesty's 
birthday  ball  and  it  seemed  to  me  impossible 
that  the  younger  could  have  reached  so  mature 
an  age.  Besides,  she  herself  confessed  to  but 
twenty-one.  This,  perhaps,  was  not  unusual, 
yet  it  set  me  thinking.  The  De  Courcys,  I 
learned  by  a  little  further  reading  in  Burke, 
were  distantly  connected  with  the  family  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald,  which  struck  me,  in  the 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  233 

circumstances,  as  an  odd  coincidence.  A  Miss 
de  Courcy  became  the  Duke  of  Northminster's 
wife;  and  to  her  was  born  a  daughter  who 
eventually  married  the  late  Grand  Duke  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald,  father  of  Princess  Sylvia  and 
the  present  Crown  Prince  of  Abruzzia.  Acting 
as  I  felt  my  duty  to  Your  Majesty  and  Rhaetia 
bade  me  act,  I  at  once  telegraphed  to  Friedrich, 
and  also  to  Baron  von  Mienigen,  Your  Majesty's 
Ambassador  to  England." 

"What  did  you  telegraph?"  asked  the  Em 
peror,  with  ominous  calm. 

"  Nothing  compromising  to  Your  Majesty  or 
to  the  lady;  I  trust  you  feel  confident  of  that. 
I  inquired  of  Friedrich  if  he  had  English  rela 
tives  named  De  Courcy  —  a  mother  and  daugh 
ter —  travelling  in  Rhaetia;  and  begged  that, 
if  so,  he  would  describe  them,  wiring  an  answer 
to  me  at  Marks tein.  To  Von  Mienigen  I  said 
that  all  possible  particulars  regarding  the  widow 
of  Sir  Thomas  de  Courcy  and  her  daughter, 
with  an  account  of  their  present  movements, 
would  place  me  under  personal  obligations, 
and  that  I  hoped  for  a  speedy  reply  by  tele- 


234   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

graph.  These  messages  I  sent  off  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  before  yesterday.  Last 
night  I  received  the  answers,  within  two  or  three 
hours  of  one  another.  They  are  now  here" 
(he  tapped  the  breast  of  his  coat) ;  "  have  I  Your 
Majesty's  permission  to  show  them?" 

"I  will  read  what  your  friends  have  to  say 
if  you  wish,"  returned  Maximilian  coldly.  His 
face  told  nothing;  but  the  Chancellor  looked 
down  to  hide  the  flicker  of  hope  under  his 
eyelids.  With  a  slight  tremor  in  the  big,  blunt 
fingers,  he  unbuttoned  his  coat  and  drew  out 
a  handsome  coroneted  pocket-book,  given  him 
by  Maximilian.  The  gift  had  been  made  on 
the  old  man's  sixty-fourth  birthday,  almost  a 
year  ago;  and  the  sight  of  it  now  produced  a 
certain  effect,  as,  perhaps,  "Iron  Heart"  was 
quietly  aware. 

From  the  pocket-book  came  two  folded  papers ; 
and,  with  a  bow,  the  Chancellor  placed  them  in 
his  Imperial  master's  hands. 

The  first  that  Maximilian  opened  was  a 
telegram  in  Italian  from  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Abruzzia. 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  235 

"Have  not  the  remotest  idea  where  Lady 
de  Courcy  and  her  daughter  are  living;  may 
be  in  Rhaetia  or  at  the  South  Pole,"  it  was 
worded  with  characteristic  flippancy.  "Have 
not  seen  either  since  a  visit  paid  to  England 
eight  years  ago,  then  only  once.  Lady  de 
Courcy  is  a  tall  old  party  of  the  dragon  order, 
with  a  nose  like  a  rocking-horse.  My  cousin 
Mary  is  dark,  and  takes  after  her  mother.  Is 
Otto  to  be  the  happy  man  ?  —  FRIEDRICH." 

With  absolutely  expressionless  features,  Maxi 
milian  tossed  the  paper  on  to  the  seat  by  his  side 
and  unfolded  the  other. 

"Pardon  delay,"  the  Rhaetian  Ambassador 
to  Great  Britain  began  his  message.  "Have 
been  obliged  to  make  inquiries.  Lady  de 
Courcy  is  the  widow  of  Baron  de  Courcy,  who 
died  ten  years  ago,  leaving  one  son  and  a  daugh 
ter.  The  lady  is  not  rich,  and  in  her  son's  minority 
lets  her  town  and  country  houses,  living  mostly 
abroad.  She  is  at  present  in  Calcutta,  India, 
where  her  daughter,  Miss  Mary  de  Courcy,  is 
engaged  to  marry  a  Judge  Morley,  a  man  of 
some  distinction.  Kindly  let  me  hear  if  there 


236    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

are  other  particulars  you  desire  to  know,  and  I 
will  endeavour  to  obtain  them.  --  MIENIGEN." 

"Well!"  the  Emperor  threw  aside  the  tele 
gram,  and  laughed.  Rather  a  forced  laugh, 
perhaps,  but  still  it  was  a  laugh.  "Is  it  pos 
sible  that  so  wise  a  man  of  the  world  as  yourself, 
Chancellor,  dares  to  call  two  ladies  'adventur 
esses'  on  such  slight  grounds  as  these;  or  have 
you  more  cards  up  your  sleeve?" 

Von  Markstein  breathed  quickly.  He  had 
counted  on  the  Emperor's  former  strict  regard  for 
Court  etiquette,  the  well-known  sternness  of  his 
principle;  and  he  had  not  prepared  himself  for 
such  an  answer.  But  then,  he  had  yet  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  Maximilian  as  a  man  in  love. 

He  hesitated  for  a  reply.  In  truth,  he  had 
founded  his  theory  on  this  basis,  and  he  still 
considered  it  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  one 
save  a  madman.  But  if  Maximilian  were  mad, 
he  must  be  treated  accordingly;  therefore  the 
Chancellor  condescended  to  "bluff." 

"It  is  not  yet  time  to  play  the  trumps  which 
I  keep  in  my  sleeve,  Your  Majesty,"  he  said,  as 
firmly  as  if  he  had  not  been  conscious  of  his 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  237 

sleeve's  emptiness.  "But  I  am  sure,  when  you 
have  thought  the  matter  over  —  perhaps 
deigned  to  talk  it  over  with  me --you  will  see 
that  the  cards  I  have  laid  before  you  are  all- 
sufficing.  The  ladies  styling  themselves  De 
Courcy  have  come  to  Rhaetia  under  false  colours. 
They  have  either  deceived  Lady  West,  or  they 
have  forged  the  letters  of  introduction  purport 
ing  to  be  from  her." 

"Why  didn't  you  telegraph  Lady  West,  while 
your  hand  \vas  in,  my  friend?"  asked  Maximil 
ian,  feigning  indifference  to  the  answer. 

"I  did,  Your  Majesty,  since  you  ask  the 
question.  At  least,  not  knowing  the  address 
which  would  find  her  soonest,  I  wired  a  friend 
of  hers,  an  acquaintance  of  my  own,  begging  him 
to  speak  with  Lady  West,  not  mentioning  my 
name  in  the  matter.  But  as  yet  I  have  received 
no  response  to  that  telegram." 

"Until  you  do,  I  should  think  that  even  an 
old  cynic  like  yourself,  Chancellor,  might  have 
given  two  defenseless,  inoffensive  ladies  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt." 

"Inoffensive,  you  call  them?"  protested  "Iron 


238   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Heart"  incredulously.  " Inoffensive,  when  they 
came  to  this  country  for  the  purpose  of  using 
the  young  woman's  beauty  to  ensnare  Your 
Majesty's  affections,  to  entrap  you  into  some 
sort  of  declaration?  But,  great  heaven,  it  is 
true  indeed  that  my  brain  feels  the  advance  of 
years!  I  have  forgotten  to  implore  that  Your 
Majesty  will  tell  me  whether  you  have  men 
tioned  the  word  marriage  to  the  lady?  I  pray 
that  you  have  not  so  far  compromised  your 
self  and  Rhaetia." 

"I  will  answer  that  question  by  another.  Do 
you  believe  that  Miss  de  Courcy  came  to  Rhaetia 
for  the  express  purpose  of  'entrapping  me,'  as 
you  caJl  it?" 

"In  truth,  I  scarcely  credit  even  her  ambition 
with  as  high  a  flight  as  Your  Majesty's  avowed 
intentions.  I  believe  that  she  would  have  been 
satisfied  with  far  less  —  far  less." 

"In  that  case,  you  think  she  would  have  been 
overjoyed  with  an  offer  to  become  the  morgan 
atic  wife  of  the  Emperor  ?" 

"'Overjoyed'  is  a  mild  word,  Your  Majesty. 
Overwhelmed  might  be  nearer." 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  239 

"Yet  I  tell  you  that  she  refused  me  last  night, 
and  is  leaving  Rhaetia  to-day  rather  than  listen 
to  further  entreaties." 

Maximilian  leaned  forward  to  launch  this 
thunderbolt,  his  brown  hands  on  his  knees,  his 
eyes  eager.  The  recollections,  half -bitter,  half- 
sweet,  called  up  by  his  own  words,  caused 
Sylvia  to  appear  in  his  imagination  more  beau 
tiful,  more  completely  desirable  even  than 
before. 

He  was  delighted  with  the  expression  on  Von 
Markstein's  face,  though  it  quickly  faded. 
"Now,  what  arguments  have  you  left?"  he 
broke  out  in  the  brief  silence. 

"All  that  I  had  before  —  more,  indeed.  For 
what  Your  Majesty  has  said  only  shows  that  the 
lady  is  more  ambitious,  more  self-confident, 
therefore  more  dangerous,  than  I  had  supposed. 
She  staked  much  upon  the  power  of  her  charms; 
and  she  might  have  won,  had  you  not  an  old 
servant  who  wouldn't  be  fooled  by  the  enchant 
ments  of  Helen  herself." 

"She  has  won,"  said  Maximilian.  Then, 
hastily:  "God  forgive  me  for  chiming  in  with 


240   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

your  humour,  and  speaking  as  if  she  had  played 
a  game.  That  is  far  enough  from  my  meaning. 
By  simply  being  herself  she  has  won  me,  such  as 
I  am;  she  has  proved  that,  if  she  cares  at  all, 
it  is  for  the  man  and  not  the  Emperor,  since  she 
called  an  offer  which  most  ambitious  women 
would  have  welcomed,  an  insult.  Yes,  Chan 
cellor,  that  was  the  word  she  used;  and  it  was 
almost  the  last  she  said  to  me;  which  is  the 
reason  I  am  travelling  to-day.  And  nothing 
that  you  have  told  me  has  any  power  to  hold 
me  back." 

"By  heaven,  Your  Majesty,  I  believe  you  look 
upon  yourself  from  the  point  of  view  you  credit 
to  this  English  girl!  You  forget  the  Emperor 
in  the  man." 

"I  have  thought  well,  and  at  last  I  see  nothing 
in  one  which  need  interfere  with  the  other." 

"Love  indeed  makes  men  blind,  and  I  see  it 
spares  not  the  eyes  of  emperors." 

"I  have  given  my  word  to  bear  with  you  and 
your  tongue,  Von  Markstein." 

"And  I  know  that  you  will  keep  it.  I  must 
speak;  I  speak  for  Rhaetia,  and  for  your  better 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  241 

self!  Your  Majesty,  I  understand  that  you  are 
now  following  this  lady  with  the  purpose  of 
informing  her  that  she  has  triumphed  —  that  she 
is  to  be  the  Empress." 

"If  she  will  have  the  Emperor  for  her 
husband." 

"A  lady  whose  name  is  of  so  little  value  to 
her  that  she  steals  another !  The  nation  will  not 
bear  it,  Your  Majesty." 

"I  think  you  speak  for  yourself,  not  for 
Rhaetia,  Chancellor,"  said  Maximilian.  "I  am 
not  so  old  as  you  by  four-and-thirty  years,  yet 
I  believe  I  can  judge  of  what  my  people  will 
bear  at  least  as  well  as  you  can.  The  law  which 
obliges  an  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  to  marry  Royalty 
is  an  unwritten  law,  a  law  solely  of  custom, 
handed  down  through  many  generations.  I  will 
not  spoil  my  life  by  submitting  to  its  yoke,  since 
by  breaking  it  the  nation  gains,  rather  than  loses. 
You  have  seen  Miss  de  Courcy.  Where  could  I 
find  another  such  woman  for  my  wife  —  for 
Rhaetia's  Empress?" 

"You  have  not  seen  Princess  Sylvia  of 
Eltzburg-Neuwald,  who  is  famed  for  her  beauty." 


242   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  have  no  wish  to  see  her;  her  beauty  is  for 
him  who  has  not  looked  on  perfection.  There  is 
but  one  woman  in  the  world  for  me;  and  I  swear 
to  you,  Von  Markstein,  if  I  cannot  have  her,  I  will 
go  to  my  grave  unmarried.  Let  the  crown  fall 
to  my  uncle's  son.  I'll  not  perjure  myself  —  no, 
not  even  for  Rhaetia." 

The  Chancellor  bowed  his  head  and  held  up 
his  hands,  for  with  gesture  alone  was  he  able  to 
express  his  feelings. 

"As  I  said,"  Maximilian  went  sharply  on,  "it 
shall  be  the  Countess  of  Salzbriick  who  becomes 
the  Empress.  If  my  people  love  me,  they  will 
love  her,  and  rejoice  in  my  happiness.  If  they 
complain,  why,  we  shall  see  who  is  master; 
whether  to  be  Emperor  of  Rhaetia  means  being 
a  mere  figure-head  or  not.  In  some  countries 
Royalty  is  but  an  ornamental  survival  of  a  pic 
turesque  past,  a  King  or  Queen  is  no  more  than  a 
puppet  which  the  nation  loads  with  magnificence 
to  do  itself  honour.  But  that  is  not  yet  so  in 
Rhaetia,  as  I  am  ready  to  prove,  if  prove  it  I  must. 
For  my  part,  I  think  I  shall  be  spared  the  trouble, 
for  we  Rhaetians  love  romance  in  high  or  low; 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  243 

you  only  are  the  exception,  Chancellor.  And 
as  for  the  story  you  have  told  me,  and  proved 
to  your  satisfaction,  though  not  to  mine,  I 
would  give  that  for  it!"  And  the  Emperor 
snapped  his  fingers. 

"You  still  believe,  despite  what  Friedrich  and 
Von  Mienigen  say,  that  mother  and  daughter 
are  Lady  and  Miss  de  Courcy?" 

"I  believe  that,  whoever  they  may  be,  they  are 
of  stainless  reputation,  and  that  any  apparent 
mystery  is  capable  of  satisfactory  explanation. 
Knowing  Miss  de  Courcy,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  believe  less  well  of  her.  She  is  herself;  that 
is  enough  for  me.  Perhaps,  Chancellor,  the 
mistake  is  all  your  own,  and  there  are  two  Lady 
de  Courcys." 

"Only  one  is  mentioned  in  Burke,  Your 
Majesty." 

"Burke  isn't  gospel,  whatever  English  people 
think." 

"Pardon  me,  it  is  the  gospel  of  the  British 
peerage.  It  can  no  more  be  guilty  of  an  error 
than  Euclid." 

"  Nor  can  Miss  de  Courcy  be  guilty  of  a  theft. 


244   THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

I'll  stake  my  life  on  that;  and  I  tell  you  again, 
Chancellor,  that  your  lame  conclusions  have 
proved  nothing." 

The  old  man  accepted  his  rebuke  in  momen 
tary  silence.  But  after  a  pause,  equal  to  three 
or  four  whole  notes  in  music,  he  spoke  slowly 
and  respectfully : 

:<Your  Majesty  referred,  a  short  time  ago,  to 
certain  other  cards,  wrhich  you  suggested  —  in  a 
playful  way — I  might  be  concealing  for  future 
use.  I  did  not  deny  the  accusation,  and  if  I  have 
not  yet  laid  down  these  cards,  Your  Majesty, 
do  not  take  it  as  a  sign  that  they  are  not  in  my 
possession." 

"It  is  often  good  policy  to  lead  trumps," 
said  Maximilian,  not  without  a  sneer. 

"In  whist,  but  not  in  all  games,  Your  Ma 
jesty.  I  hold  mine  for  the  present.  But  —  is 
your  indulgence  for  the  old  man  quite  ex 
hausted?" 

"Not  quite,  though  slightly  strained,  I  will 
confess,"  Maximilian  said,  tempering  the  words 
with  half  a  smile. 

"Then    I    have    one,    and    only    one,    more 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  245 

Important  question  to  ask,  venturing  to  remind 
you  first  that,  to  the  best  of  my  belief,  I  have 
acted  solely  in  your  interest.  If  I  feel  that  such 
a  step  as  you  contemplate  would  be  my  death 
blow,  it  is  simply  because  I  love  you  and  love 
Rhaetia  before  all  else.  Tell  me,  Your  Majesty, 
this  one  thing.  If  it  were  proved  to  you  that  the 
lady  you  know  as  Miss  de  Courcy  was,  not  only 
not  the  person  she  pretended  to  be,  but  in  other 
respects  unworthy  of  your  love  —  unworthy  in 
a  way  that  no  man  can  forgive --what  would 
you  do  then  ?" 

"You  speak  of  impossibilities." 
"But  if  they  were  not  impossibilities?" 
"  In  such  a  case  I  would  do  as  other  men  do  — 
spend  the  rest  of  my  life  in  trying  to  forget  a 
lost  ideal." 

"  I  thank  Your  Majesty ;  that  is  all  I  now  ask. 
I  suppose  —  you  will  continue  your  journey?" 
"Yes,  I  continue  my  journey  as  far  as  Wan- 
deck,   where  I   hope   to   find  Lady   and   Miss 
de  Courcy." 

"Then,  Your  Majesty,  when  I  have  expressed 
my  deep  gratitude  for  your  forbearance  —  even 


246    THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

though  I  failed  to  be  convincing  —  I  will  trouble 
you  no  longer." 

The  Chancellor  rose,  slowly  and  painfully, 
with  a  reminiscence  of  the  gout,  and  Maximilian 
regarded  him  in  surprise,  "What  do  you 
mean?"  he  asked. 

"Only  that  since  I  can  do  no  further  good,  I 
shall,  with  your  permission,  get  out  at  this 
station,  and  go  back  to  Salzbriick." 

The  Emperor  realized,  what  he  had  not 
noticed  until  this  moment,  that  the  train  was 
slowing  down,  as  it  passed  into  the  suburbs  of 
a  town.  He  and  the  Chancellor  had  talked 
together  for  a  full  hour,  and  he  was  far  from 
regretting  the  prospect  of  being  left  to  himself. 
More  than  once  he  had  come  perilously  near  to 
losing  his  temper,  forgetting  his  gratitude  and 
the  old  man's  years.  How  much  longer  he 
could  have  held  out,  under  a  continued  strain 
of  provocation,  he  did  not  know;  and  he  spoke 
no  word  of  dissuasion,  as  Count  von  Markstein 
picked  up  his  hat  and  buttoned  the  well-known 
gray  overcoat  for  departure. 

"I   have   passed    pleasanter    hours    in    your 


BETWEEN  MAN  AND  MAN  247 

society,  I  admit,"  said  Maximilian,  when  the 
train  stopped.  "  But  I  thank  you  for  your  mo 
tives,  if  not  your  maxims;  and  here's  my  hand." 

The  Chancellor  bowed  low,  until  only  the 
shining  top  of  his  bald  head  was  visible,  as  he 
accepted  the  token  of  amnesty. 

"If  Your  Majesty  would  grant  me  yet  one 
more  favour  in  this  connection,  I  should  be 
grateful,"  he  declared.  "I  find  myself  fatigued 
by  the  anxieties  of  the  past  few  days,  and  I 
shall  rest  for  some  hours  at  my  house  in  Salz- 
brlick.  Will  you  communicate  with  me  by 
telephone  when  you  have  reached  Wandeck, 
saying  whether  you  remain  there;  whether  you 
return  at  once;  or  whether  you  go  farther  ?" 

"I  will  do  that  willingly,"  said  Maximilian. 
Again  he  pressed  the  Chancellor's  hand,  which 
was  very  cold,  as  the  hands  of  old  persons 
sometimes  are;  and  five  minutes  later  he  was 
journeying  on,  alone. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NEWS   BY   TELEPHONE 

WHEN  the  Emperor  arrived  at  Wandeck 
he  went  immediately  to  the  hotel  which 
in  his  telegram,  he  had  designated  as  a  place 
of  meeting.  But  no  such  ladies  as  he  hoped 
to  find  had  come  to  the  Maximilianhof ;  and 
the  question  raised  by  this  intelligence  was, 
whether  Miss  de  Courcy  had  failed  to  receive 
his  message  or,  having  received,  had  chosen 
to  ignore  it. 

The  doubt,  harrowing  while  it  lasted,  was 
solved  by  returning  to  the  Bahnhof;  though 
certainty  proved  scarcely  less  tantalizing  than 
uncertainty  had  been.  The  telegram  was  still 
in  the  hands  of  the  stationmaster,  to  whose 
care  it  had  been  addressed.  This  diligent 
person  had  himself  gone  through  the  Orient 
express,  from  end  to  end,  inquiring  for  Miss 
de  Courcy,  but  no  one  had  responded.  The 

248 


NEWS  BY  TELEPHONE  249 

lady  might  already  have  left  the  train  at  Wan- 
deck,  it  was  true;  her  description  might  be  given 
and  inquiries  made;  but  she  would  certainly 
not  have  had  time  to  go  far,  and  return  to  the 
train  again  before  its  departure. 

It  was  evident  throughout  the  short  conversa 
tion  that  the  unfortunate  official  was  on  pins 
and  needles.  Struck  by  the  Emperor's  features, 
which  he  had  seen  so  often  in  painting  and 
photograph,  it  yet  seemed  impossible  that  the 
greatest  man  in  Rhaetia  could  thus  be  travelling 
about  the  country,  in  ordinary  morning  dress,  and 
unattended.  Sure  at  one  instant  that  it  must 
be  the  Emperor,  as  sure  the  next  that  it  was  not, 
the  poor  fellow  struggled  against  his  confusion 
in  a  way  that  would  have  amused  Maximilian 
had  he  not  been  too  much  engrossed  with  other 
matters  even  to  observe  it.  With  a  manner  that 
essayed  the  difficult  mean  between  reverence 
due  to  Royalty  and  commonplace  courtesy  good 
enough  for  everyday  gentlemen,  the  station- 
master  volunteered  to  ascertain  whether  the 
ladies  described  had  passed  out,  delivering  up 
their  tickets.  A  few  moments  of  suspense 


250  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 
followed;    then   came  the  news  that  no   such 
persons  had  been  seen. 

Here  was  a  quandary.  Since  Mary  de  Courcy 
and  her  mother  had  not  travelled  by  the  Orient 
express,  where  had  they  gone  on  leaving  the 
Hohenburgerhof  ?  Had  they  deceived  Baroness 
von  Lynar  regarding  their  intentions,  for  the 
purpose  of  blinding  the  Emperor  (a  purpose 
well  served),  or  had  they  simply  changed  their 
minds,  as  women  may?  Was  it  possible  that 
they  had  changed  them  so  radically  as  to  go 
back  to  Schloss  Lynarberg;  or  had  they 
chosen  to  be  mysterious,  and  vanish  from 
Rhaetia,  leaving  no  trace  behind  ?  Maximilian 
recalled  the  Chancellor's  revelations,  then 
dismissed  them  as  soon  as  thought  of.  Wher 
ever  lay  the  clue  to  this  tangle,  it  was  not 
in  any  act  of  which  Mary  de  Courcy  need 
be  ashamed. 

There  seemed  to  be  nothing  for  it  but  to  go 
back  to  Salzbriick  and  await  developments, 
or  rather,  stir  them  up  by  every  means  within 
his  power.  This  was  the  course  which  Maxi 
milian  chose;  and,  just  as  he  was  about  to  act 


NEWS  BY  TELEPHONE  251 

upon  it,  he  remembered  his  careless  promise  to 
Count  von  Markstein. 

There  was  a  telephone  in  the  railway  station, 
and  in  a  few  moments  came  the  "ping"  of  the 
bell  which  told  that  connection  was  established; 
then  the  "Hello!"  which  Germany  and  Rhaetia 
had  adopted  from  America,  brought  an  answering 
squeak,  unmistakably  in  the  Chancellor's  voice. 

"My  friends  are  not  here;  I  am  starting  for 
Salzbriick  again  by  the  next  train,"  cautiously 
remarked  the  Emperor.  "I  don't  see  the  use  of 
bothering  with  this,  but  would  not  break  my 
promise.  That's  all ;  good-bye  —  eh  ?  -  -  what 
did  you  say?" 

"I  —  have  —  a  —  piece  of  extraordinary  news 
for  you,"  came  over  the  wire  from  Salzbriick. 
"About  the  ladies." 

"What  is  it?"  demanded  Maximilian,  in  the 
pause  that  followed. 

"I  hinted  of  information  which  might  make 
you  see  certain  matters  differently.  I  could  not 
speak  more  definitely  then,  for  I  was  not  sure. 
Now  I  am  sure.  Your  friends  did  not  go  by  the 
Orient  express." 


252  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  know  that  already,"  returned  the  Emperor, 
whose  eyes  began  to  flash,  and  who  glared  at 
the  telephone  as  if  it  were  some  noxious  beast 
spitting  venom. 

"  They  gave  out  that  they  were  leaving  Rhaetia. 
But  they  have  not  crossed  the  frontier." 

"I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  information. 
It  is  exactly  what  I  wanted,"  was  the  Emperor's 
retort. 

"You  know  who  bought  a  hunting-lodge  near 
Biinden,  in  the  Niederwald,  last  year?" 

"Yes,  I  know  whom  you  mean,"  went  sullenly 
over  the  wire.  "What  has  that  to  do  with  my 
friends?" 

"  Only  that  one  of  them  has  gone  there.  You 
can  guess  which .  The  others  remain  in  Salz- 
briick.  It  seems  that  the  —  new  owner  of  the 
hunting-lodge  has  known  them  for  some  time, 
though  he  was  ignorant  of  this  malicious  mas 
querade.  The  one  of  whom  we  spoke  is  an 
actress.  The  owner  arrived  at  the  lodge  this 
morning,  drove  into  town,  where  your  friend  had 
waited,  evidently  expecting  him,  invited  her  to 
pay  him  a  visit;  and  the  invitation  was  accepted." 


NEWS  BY  TELEPHONE  253 

"I'll  never  believe  that  till  I  see  them  to 
gether,  with  my  own  eyes!" 

"  Will  you  go  with  me  to-night  when  you  return, 
and  honour  them  with  an  unexpected  call  ?" 

"I  will--d n  you!"  shouted  the  Em 
peror.  It  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  ever  so 
far  forgotten  his  dignity  as  to  swear  at  the 
Chancellor. 

He  dropped  the  receiver,  tossed  a  gold  coin, 
with  his  own  head  upon  it  (at  the  moment  he 
could  have  wished  he  had  no  other),  down  on  the 
attendant's  desk,  and,  waving  away  an  offer  of 
change,  stalked  out  of  the  office. 

Beneath  his  breath  he  swore  again,  the  strong 
est  oaths  which  the  rich  language  of  his  father 
land  provided,  anathematizing,  not  the  maligned 
woman  whom  he  loved,  but  the  man  who  had 
maligned  her. 

There  was  madness  in  the  thought  that  she 
could  be  false  to  herself  and  her  confession  of 
love  for  him.  He  would  not  entertain  it.  Let 
the  whole  world  reek  with  foulness,  if  only  his 
love  might  still  shine  above  it  white  and  remote 
as  the  young  moon  in  heaven. 


254  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

The  old  man  whose  life  would  scarce  be  safe 
could  his  Emperor  lay  hands  upon  him  in  his 
present  mood  —  this  old  man  had  a  grudge 
against  the  one  perfect  girl  on  earth.  There 
was  no  shameful  rag  of  gossip  which  he  would 
not  stoop  to  pick  up  from  the  mud  and  fly  as  a 
flag  of  battle,  calming  his  conscience  (if  he  still 
kept  one)  by  saying  that  it  was  "for  the  coun 
try's  good." 

Telling  himself  these  things  and  many  others, 
Maximilian  hurried  away  to  inquire  for  the 
next  train  back  to  Salzbriick.  There  would  not 
be  another  for  three  hours.  It  would  be  im 
possible  to  restrain  his  impatience  for  so  long, 
sure  as  he  was  of  his  love's  innocence.  There 
was  a  raging  tiger  in  his  breast,  that  would  not 
cease  to  tear  him  until  he  had  seen  Mary  de 
Courcy,  told  her  what  it  was  in  his  heart  to  do 
for  her  sake,  received  her  answer,  and,  through 
it,  punished  the  Chancellor. 

The  only  way  to  do  all  this  without  intoler 
able  delay  was  to  abandon  his  design  to  be 
inconspicuous,  and  order  a  special  train.  He 
could  have  one,  it  appeared,  in  an  hour,  or  a 


NEWS  BY  TELEPHONE  255 

little  more.  The  journey  to  Salzbruck  would 
occupy  three  hours,  and  it  would  therefore  be 
well  on  toward  eight  o'clock  before  he  could 
start  for  the  hunting-lodge  named  by  Von 
Markstein.  Drive  as  fast  as  he  might,  he  could 
not  reach  the  place  before  half -past  nine;  still, 
he  would  go,  and  the  Chancellor  should  go  with 
him.  Not  because  Miss  de  Courcy  would  be 
there,  but  rather,  because  she  would  not;  and 
because  Von  Markstein  must  be  made  to  con 
fess  the  criminal  error  into  which  his  misplaced 
zeal  had  led  him. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK 

*' Desperate  remedies 
For  diseases  desperate  grown." 

TELL  the  truth  —  when  convenient;  spice 
with  prevarication  —  when  necessary ; 
and  never  part  with  the  whole  truth  at  one  time, 
since  waste  is  sinful,"  might  have  been  the  word 
ing  of  "Iron  Heart's"  maxim;  and  he  had  made 
the  most  of  that  wise  policy  to-day. 

He  had  told  the  Emperor  no  lies  —  even 
through  the  telephone,  when  carelessness  may 
be  admissible;  but  he  had  arranged  his  truths 
as  skillfully  as  pawns  upon  a  chess-board.  It 
was  said  by  some  who  pretended  to  know,  that 
Count  Eberhard  von  Markstein  had  had  a 
Jesuit  for  a  tutor;  but  be  this  as  it  would,  it 
was  certain  that,  when  he  had  a  goal  to  reach, 
he  did  not  pick  his  footsteps  by  the  way.  A 
flower  here  and  there  might  be  trodden  down 

256 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  257 

in  his  progress,  a  small  life  broken,  a  reputation 
stained;  but  what  was  that  when  the  nation's 
standard  was  to  be  set  upon  the  mountain-top  ? 
Supposing  he  had  said  to  the  Emperor,  after 
his  promise  of  plain  speaking,  "Your  Majesty 
is  on  a  wild-goose  chase.  Those  you  seek  have 
not  left  Salzbriick;  they  are  still  at  the  Hohen- 
burgerhof .  Otto  told  me  they  had  left  Lynar- 
berg,  and  I  called  upon  them  at  the  hotel,  mean 
ing  to  frighten  them  away,  as  the  spider  fright 
ened  Miss  Muffitt,  by  telling  them  that  I  knew 
all,  and  they  had  better  flit,  of  their  own  accord, 
if  they  did  not  wish  to  be  assisted  over  the  fron 
tier.  They  refused  to  see  me,  alleging  as  an 
excuse  that  some  obscure  person  in  their  men 
age,  named  Collinson,  had  been  seized  with 
sudden  illness,  which  would  prevent  their 
departure  from  Rhaetia  for  the  present.  While 
I  awaited  their  answer  at  the  hotel,  Your  Maj 
esty  telephoned  from  the  Bahnhof;  at  least,  I 
was  certain  that  it  must  be  Your  Majesty,  and 
no  other.  Fortunately  for  my  plans,  I  over 
heard  the  person  at  the  telephone  communica 
ting  the  message  received  to  the  manager,  and 


258  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

ventured  to  use  my  influence  with  the  land 
lord,  not  only  toward  obtaining  permission  to 
dictate  the  reply,  but  a  promise  that  the  trans 
action  should  be  confidential.  By  the  fact  that 
the  message  came  from  the  railway  station,  I 
judged  that  Your  Majesty  contemplated  fol 
lowing  the  Orient  express,  in  which  the  ladies 
would  have  gone,  had  it  not  been  for  their 
companion's  illness.  I  learned  that  no  special 
had  been  ordered,  and  the  time  of  the  first 
train  in  which  it  would  be  possible  for  you  to 
travel,  then  I  took  my  place  before  Your  Maj 
esty  got  in.  Had  my  eloquence  convinced  you 
of  Miss  de  Courcy's  unworthiness  I  should  have 
urged  you  to  return  with  me,  thus  sparing  you 
the  annoyance  of  a  useless  journey  to  Wan  deck. 
As  matters  stood,  however,  I  was  delighted  to 
get  you  out  of  the  way,  that  I  might  hurry  back 
and  manufacture  the  trumps  alleged  to  be  kept 
in  my  sleeve,  before  you  could  return  and  inter 
fere  with  my  machinations."  Supposing  Count 
von  Markstein  had  said  all  this,  it  is  not  prob 
able  that  Rhaetia  would  long  have  rejoiced  in 
so  wise,  so  self-sacrificing  a  Chancellor. 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  259 

"Iron  Heart"  had  meekly  declared  his  readi 
ness  to  resign,  but  he  had  counted  (as  people 
who  risk  much  for  great  ends  usually  do  count) 
on  not  being  taken  at  his  word.  He  loved 
power,  because  he  had  always  had  it,  and 
without  it  life  would  not  have  been  worth  liv 
ing;  but  it  was  honestly  for  the  country's  sake 
-  even  for  Maximilian's  sake,  rather  than  his 
own  —  that  he  desired  to  retain  his  high  posi 
tion.  Without  his  strong  hand  to  seize  the 
reins,  if  Maximilian  dropped  them  for  a  careless 
instant  he  conscientiously  believed  that  the 
chariot  of  state  was  lost. 

He  had  said  what  he  could;  he  had  done  his 
best  to  disillusion  a  young  man  in  love  with 
an  adventuress;  now,  neither  as  Chancellor  nor 
as  friend  could  he  openly  continue  to  protest, 
unless  favoured  by  fate  with  some  striking  new 
developments.  Privately,  however,  he  had  but 
taken  the  first  step  toward  interference;  and  he 
meant,  since  worst  had  come  to  worst,  to  go 
much  further.  He  would  not  even  have  con 
sidered  it  sinful  to  kill  a  woman  of  the  type  to 
which  he  assigned  Mary  de  Courcy,  if  nothing 


260  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

less  than  removal  from  an  earthly  sphere  could 
have  kept  her  from  the  throne  of  Rhaetia. 

Long  before  his  destination  was  reached,  he 
had  decided  upon  his  next  move.  Unfortu 
nately,  its  ultimate  success  depended  upon  an 
outside  influence.  But  as  that  influence  was 
to  be  Otto's,  and  old  Eberhard  held  the  power 
of  making  Otto  a  rich  man  or  a  beggar,  he  was 
not  without  confidence  as  to  the  result. 

During  the  early  visit  paid  by  the  younger 
brother  to  the  elder  that  morning  it  had  been 
arranged  that  he  should  be  ready,  on  the  receipt 
of  a  telegram,  instantly  to  place  his  services  at 
Eberhard's  disposal.  Thus,  a  message,  des 
patched  from  the  place  at  which  the  Emperor 
and  the  Chancellor  had  parted,  was  supposed 
to  assure  Otto's  meeting  the  returning  train  in 
an  hour's  time  at  Salzbriick. 

Still,  accidents  do  happen  sometimes,  to  upset 
the  best-laid  schemes,  therefore  it  was  a  relief  to 
the  mind  of  Count  von  Markstein  to  thrust  his 
head  from  the  carriage  window  on  entering  the 
station,  and  to  behold  his  brother's  handsome  face 
looking  up  from  the  crowd  on  the  arrival  platform. 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  261 

"Well?"  said  Otto,  as  they  walked  away  to 
the  carriage  which  awaited  them  outside. 

"Well!"  echoed  the  Chancellor.  "That  is 
exactly  what  it  is  not.  But  it  shall  be  —  it 
shall  be  well;  and  you  shall  help  to  make  it  so." 

Otto  flushed.  "In  the  manner  we  talked  of 
the  other  day?"  he  asked  dubiously. 

"No;  I  do  not  now  intend  that  you  shall 
marry  the  girl.  Knowing  her  to  be  an  impos 
tor,  I  know  that  the  most  degenerate  Von 
Markstein  is  too  good  to  mate  with  her,"  said 
the  old  man,  the  lash  of  his  tongue  cutting  in 
two  ways  at  once.  "But  Maximilian  has  lost 
his  head,  and  there's  only  one  hope  left,  it 
seems,  that  he  will  find  it  in  time  to  save  the 
country  a  great  disaster.  It  must  be  proved 
to  him  that  the  woman  he  honours  is  worth 
less;  that  while  she  angles  to  catch  a  big  fish, 
she  does  not  disdain  to  play  with  a  small  one." 

"  Meaning,  we'll  show  the  Emperor  that  Miss 
de  Courcy  has  been  flirting  with  me,"  finished 
Otto.  "With  all  my  heart,  dear  brother,  if 
that  were  possible  —  for  I  owe  her  a  grudge. 
But  I  confess  I  did  not  tell  you  all  there  was 


262  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

to  tell,  this  morning,  when  I  rode  over  from 
Schloss  Lynarberg.  I  spared  myself  the  em 
barrassment  of  mentioning  that,  after  the  garden 
scene  which  I  described  to  you,  Miss  de  Courcy 
and  I  had  a  little  private  scene  of  our  own.  I 
was  stupid  enough  to  choose  the  wrong  moment 
for  declaring  my  sentiments  and  expressing  my 
sympathy.  Not  only  did  the  young  lady  refuse 
to  forgive  me,  at  the  time,  but  I  know  very  well 
that  she  never  will  forgive  me,  in  future.  She 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  me  after  this;  she 
has  forbidden  me  to  speak  to  her  again.  There 
fore,  with  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  I 
am " 

"You  are  a  fool!"  exclaimed  the  Chancellor. 

"Not  quite,  I  trust.  Only  wait  till  I  have 
finished,  and  even  my  brother  may  admit  that, 
though  there's  no  hope  for  me  in  an  affair  of 
the  heart  with  Miss  de  Courcy,  there  is  a  little 
still  left  for  me  as  the  aide-de  camp  of  a  diplo 
matist.  Who  do  you  think  has  just  arrived  in 
Salzbriick?" 

"The  devil,  I  should  say,  by  the  way  things 
are  going,"  returned  the  Chancellor. 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  263 

"I've  heard  him  called  so  more  than  once. 
That's  why  I  thought  he  might  be  useful  now. 
And  as  it  happens,  he's  in  a  mood  for  mischief. 
I  met  him  on  my  way  to  the  station,  in  his 
dog-cart,  in  which  he  had  driven  to  town  from 
Biinden." 

"  From  B  iinden !     Then  it  is  the  Prince  -    -" 

"Of  Darkness;  you've  just  named  him." 

The  Chancellor  heard  neither  the  flippant 
interruption  nor  the  still  more  flippant  laugh 
accompanying  it.  His  hard  features  brightened 
with  a  grim  joy.  "Providence  fights  for  us!" 
he  murmured. 

"  With  the  devil  for  a  weapon,  you  would  put 
it,  brother  ?  Or  should  we  rather  be  polite,  and 
say  that  the  Prince  is  like  the  ram  caught  by 
its  horns  in  the  bushes,  ready  for  sacrifice  ?" 

"I  pray  that  he  be  caught,  and  not  already 
out  of  reach  —  for  there's  no  single  moment  to 
be  lost,  if  this  marvellous  chance  is  not  to  slip 
past  me,"  said  the  Chancellor,  too  deeply  pre 
occupied  to  resent  his  brother's  levity. 

"What  reward  shall  I  deserve  if  I  take  you 
to  him  inside  the  half-hour?" 


264  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"You  do  not  forget  your  own  interests,  no 
matter  what  issues  are  at  stake!  But  you  have 
served  me  in  this  instance.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  quarter  you  shall  have  the  sum  I  men 
tioned  the  other  day;  while,  if  the  Prince  works 
with  me,  and  the  cause  is  won,  you  shall  be 
my  heir;  I  promise  it.  Where  is  the  Prince?" 

"By  a  queer  deal  of  the  cards,  by  this  time 
he's  at  the  place  you'd  choose  to  have  him,  of 
all  others;  the  Hohenburgerhof.  He  had  been 
to  call  on  you  at  your  town  house,  he  told  me, 
and  not  finding  you  at  home,  meant  to  dine 
early  at  the  hotel  and  look  you  up  again  later. 
He  left  a  note,  it  seems,  which  you  will  find  if 
you  go  home." 

"It  can  wait;  I  go  to  the  Prince  direct,"  pro 
nounced  the  Chancellor. 

And  the  coachman  was  bidden  to  drive  his 
fastest  to  the  Hohenburgerhof,  in  the  Maxi 
milian  Platz. 

The  Prince  who,  according  to  "Iron  Heart's" 
belief,  had  been  sent  to  him  by  Providence,  was 
engaged,  when  the  Chancellor  arrived,  in  select 
ing  the  wines  for  his  dinner.  He  was  in  the 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  265 

private  apartments  which  he  had  taken  for 
the  afternoon,  and  expressed  himself  through 
an  obsequious  servant  as  being  delighted  to 
receive  Count  von  Markstein. 

Otto's  mission  having  been  fulfilled  and  fin 
ished,  it  was  only  the  broad  figure  in  the  gray 
overcoat  which  was  ushered  ceremoniously  into 
the  room  known  at  the  hotel  as  the  "Purple 
Salon  of  the  Royal  Suite." 

As  the  Chancellor  was  shown  in,  a  young 
man  jumped  up  from  an  easy-chair,  flung  aside 
the  wine  list,  and  came  toward  the  guest  with 
extended  hands.  It  would  have  been  useless 
to  scour  the  world  in  search  of  a  handsomer 
young  man  than  he.  Even  Otto  von  Markstein, 
justly  remarkable  for  his  good  looks,  was  insig 
nificant  compared  with  this  youth.  He  and 
the  Chancellor  were  not  new  acquaintances, 
by  any  means,  and  the  vital  organ  which  had 
given  "Iron  Heart"  his  nickname  was  not  to  be 
softened  by  beauty  in  male  or  female;  but  at 
this  moment  he  rejoiced  in  the  physical  per 
fection  of  the  Prince  who  would  be  a  danger 
ous  rival  even  for  an  emperor. 


266  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Count  von  Markstein  had  pronounced  his 
brother  a  fool  for  throwing  away  his  chances 
of  success  in  a  flirtation  with  Miss  de  Courcy, 
but  he  was  almost  ready  now  to  see  a  gift 
from  Fortune  in  Otto's  cause  for  spite  against 
the  girl.  Had  she  not  offended  the  young  man's 
amour-propre  in  revenge  for  his  tactless  declar 
ation,  Otto's  natural  instinct  would  have  been 
to  protect  her  from  rather  than  deliver  her  up 
to  the  enemy.  And  had  Otto  let  him  —  Eber- 
hard  —  go  home,  without  knowledge  of  the 
Prince's  presence  in  Salzbriick,  hours  must 
have  been  ignorantly  squandered  —  precious 
hours,  big  with  the  fate  of  Rhaetia. 

"My  dear  Prince!"  exclaimed  Count  von 
Markstein,  taking  into  his  gnarled  old  hands  the 
two  young,  strong,  white  ones  held  out  to  him. 

"My  dear  Chancellor!"  echoed  the  bland 
Apollo,  smiling,  and  wasting  in  that  act  dimples 
that  would  have  transformed  a  plain  woman 
into  a  beauty. 

"You  have  been  to  my  house  ?" 

"I  had.  No  doubt  my  friend  Otto  has  seen 
and  told  you." 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  267 

"He  would  be  honoured  by  the  appellation. 
It  was  the  news  he  gave  me  which  brought  me 
here  in  haste  from  the  station." 

"  Good.  You  will  dine  with  me,  then.  I  insist ! 
It  was  to  be  an  early  dinner,  that  I  might  call 
afterward  on  you  at  the  first  moment  when  your 
servants  thought  you  likely  to  return." 

"I  thank  you,  and  in  other  circumstances 
nothing  could  give  me  greater  pleasure.  But  I 
have  business  of  the  sort  which  makes  even  a 
weary  man  forget  the  delights  of  good  com 
panionship  and  a  good  dinner." 

"Is  the  business  my  business,  Chancellor?" 

"I  hope  that  you  will  think  it  so.  A  least 
it  is  business  that  must  be  done  now  or  never, 
and  means  life  or  death  to  those  whom  it  con 
cerns.  How  it  is  to  be  done,  or  whether  done 
at  all,  depends  upon  you;  and  it  could  be  placed 
in  no  more  skilful  hands.  If  I  had  been  given 
my  choice  of  an  instrument  out  of  the  whole 
world,  had  I  dared  I  would  have  chosen  you." 

"This  sounds  like  an  adventure." 

"It  may  indeed  be  an  adventure,  and  an  act 
of  justice  too." 


268  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"I  expected  nothing  so  good  when  I  came 
over  the  frontier  this  morning.  You  can  guess 
what  brought  me  to  my  little  den  in  the  Nieder- 
wald  at  this  particular  time.  It  was  not  for 
hunting.  But,  though  my  mind  is  full  of  cer 
tain  grave  affairs,  I  trust  I  have  still  the 
instinct  of  a  sportsman." 

"I  am  sure  of  that.  Especially  when  your 
birds  and  mine  can  be  killed  with  one  shot." 

"Chancellor,  you  interest  me  more  and  more." 

The  old  man  smiled  gratitude,  but  under  the 
bristling  brows  glowed  a  light  like  the  last 
embers  in  a  dying  fire.  "Upstairs,"  said  he 
abruptly,  "is  a  pretty  woman.  She  says  her 
name  is  Mary  de  Courcy,  though  there  are 
some  of  us  who  know  better.  Her  love  affairs 
threaten  a  public  scandal." 

"Ah,  the  lady  of  whom  all  Rhaetia  talks  is 
under  the  same  roof  with  me!"  exclaimed  the 
young  man,  with  slightly  heightened  colour. 

"To  you,  more  than  to  any  other,  I  can 
speak  freely  of  our  danger,"  said  the  Chancellor. 
"This  girl  has  driven  the  Emperor  into  a  fit 
of  moon-madness.  Heaven  grant  it  may  soon 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  269 

pass ;  and  blessed  would  be  the  man  who  brought 
my  poor  master  to  his  senses.  If  you  would, 
Prince,  you  might  be  that  man.  The  sword  of 
justice  is  ready  for  your  hand." 

"That  sentence  has  a  solemn  ring.  I  know 
what  I  came  here  to  do.  But  you  seem  to  be 
preparing  a  different  programme.  Tell  me, 
what  sort  of  woman  is  this  who  has  bewitched 
your  grave  Maximilian?" 

"She  is  beautiful  and  clever,  as  women  are 
clever;  but  not  clever  enough  to  fight  her  battle 
out  against  you  and  me." 

"Me?  I  do  not  fight  with  women;  I  make 
love  to  them." 

"Ah,  you  have  said  it,  my  dear  Prince.  That  is 
what  I  want." 

Apollo  laughed.  "Describe  the  girl,"  he  said. 
"Is  she  fair  or  dark,  tall  or  short,  a  slim  Diana 
or  a  sumptuous  Venus  ?" 

"She  is  tall  and  slender,  with  the  pink  and 
white  skin  of  a  child;  and  she  is  dark-browed 
and  yellow-haired,  like  the  beauties  of  Austria," 
replied  the  Chancellor,  doing  justice  to  the 
enemy's  charms,  not  so  much  through  conscien- 


270  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

tious  motives  as  because  he  desired  to  paint 
a  pleasing  picture.  "Her  eyes  are  brown  or 
violet;  having  nearly  reached  my  threescore 
years  and  ten,  I  cannot  tell  you  which.  Her 
nose  is  of  the  Greek  type,  yet  a  trifle  more 
piquant,  it  may  be.  Doubtless  a  poet  would 
rave  of  her  lips,  red  as  geraniums  on  snow; 
and  even  I  can  affirm  that  when  the  lady  looks 
down,  and  then  looks  up  smiling  with  great  play 
of  dark  curled  lashes,  the  effect  is  somewhat 
striking.  I  can  imagine  that  smile  might  quicken 
the  pulses  of  a  younger  man  than  I." 

"It  would  quicken  mine  only  to  hear  you 
tell  of  it,  if  you  had  not  put  a  maggot  in  my 
head  that  tickles  me  to  laughter  instead  of  rap 
tures,"  said  the  Prince,  who  was  fully  mindful 
of  his  own  supremacy  over  women.  "Has  this 
girl  who  calls  herself  De  Courcy  a  little  black 
mole  on  her  forehead  just  above  the  left  eye 
brow,  and  in  that  notable  smile  of  hers,  does 
the  mouth  point  upward  at  the  right,  like  a  fairy 
sign-post  showing  the  way  to  a  small  scar  that 
masquerades  as  a  dimple?" 

The  Chancellor  gravely  reflected  for  a  mo- 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  271 

ment,  and  then  replied  that  to  the  best  of  his 
belief  both  these  marks  were  distinctly  visible 
on  the  lady's  countenance.  He  did  not  add  that 
he  had  met  her  but  once,  and  had  no  eye  for 
delicate  details ;  for  whatever  the  Prince's  theory 
might  be,  it  seemed  advisable  to  establish  it. 
"  Is  it  possible  that  you  have  met  this  dangerous 
young  person?"  he  inquired,  hiding  eagerness. 
"Well,  I  begin  to  believe  that  I  have  reason 
for  thinking  so;  exactly  why,  I  will  tell  you  at 
another  time  —  it  means  a  confession.  But  a 
lady  answering  the  description  you  have  given 
might  easily  be  in  this  neighbourhood  —  I'd 
heard  she  was  in  Rhaetia;  in  fact,  when  I  sud 
denly  made  up  my  mind  to  come,  I  thought  it 
not  impossible  that  I  might  meet  her.  We'd 
quarrelled,  after  my  having  been  weak  enough 
one  day  to  take  her  imprudently  into  my  con 
fidence  concerning  family  affairs.  This  coup 
she  has  so  nearly  made  may  be  by  way  of  re 
venge  on  me.  She's  capable  of  the  clever  con 
ception  too;  but  where  did  she  develop  the 
mother?  I  fancy  I  have  heard  that  there  is  a 
mother?" 


272  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"There  is  a  marionette  which  answers  to  the 
name,"  drily  announced  the  Chancellor.  "But 
mothers  are  articles  of  easy  manufacture." 

The  Prince  was  immensely  amused.  "No, 
she  wouldn't  stick  at  a  mother,  if  she  wanted 
one,"  he  chuckled,  "and,  while  she  was  about 
it,  she  appears  to  have  annexed  a  whole  family 
tree  as  well.  That  mole  and  the  scar-dimple 
—  you're  sure  of  them,  Chancellor?  And  the 
drawing  up  of  the  lips  to  the  right  when  she 
smiles?" 

"Sure,"  calmly  asseverated  "Iron  Heart." 

"Then  the  more  pieces  in  this  little  puzzle 
that  I  fit  together,  the  more  likely  does  it  seem 
that  your  Miss  de  Courcy,  who  has  been  turn 
ing  Rhaetia  upside  down — to  say  nothing  of 
Rhaetia's  Emperor  —  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  Miss  Minnie  Brand,  one  of  the  cleverest, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  prettiest  actresses  Eng 
land  has  owned  for  a  century." 

"You  met  her  in  England  ?" 

"No-o,  not  in  England";  the  Prince  sud 
denly  became  noncommital.  "But  we  were 
great  friends.  After  our  quarrel  she  disappeared, 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  273 

disbanding  her  company,  letting  them  go  on 
while  she  stopped  at  a  Rhaetian  watering-place. 
Ha,  ha!  now  I  think  of  it,  I  should  not  be  sur 
prised  if  she  had  hoped  to  make  of  me  a  more 
egregious  fool  than  she  appears  to  have  made 
of  Maximilian.  It  is  possible  she  fancied  at  one 
time  that  I  might  be  ass  enough  to  offer  her 
marriage." 

"The  Emperor  has  offered  her  marriage." 

"  What?     With  the   left   hand,   of  course  - 
though  even  that  would  be  unheard  of." 

"I  swear  to  you  that  if  something  can't  be 
done  to  stop  him,  he  will  make  her  Empress  of 
Rhaetia.  He  has  told  me  so  to-day  with  his 
own  lips." 

"Gad!  Little  Minnie  Brand!  I  didn't  half 
appreciate  her  brilliant  qualities." 

"Yet  I  wager,  Prince,  that  she  appreciated 
yours." 

Apollo  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I  believe 
she  liked  me.  Yes,  I  believe  that  wasn't  acting." 

"Is  it  long  since  you  parted  —  if  I  may  ask  as 
much?" 

"Oh,  yes,  you  may  ask  and  be  answered, 


274  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Chancellor.  It  is  only  long  enough  for  her  to 
have  said  good-bye  to  the  old  love  and  taken 
comfortably  up  with  the  new." 

"But  what  if  she  still  cared  for  the  old  —  if 
the  past  could  be  revived  ?  Prince,  I  tell  you 
frankly,  I  now  pin  all  my  hopes  on  you.  Even 
when  I  thought  only  that  if  a  meeting  between 
you  two  could  be  arranged,  your  fascinations 
might  produce  a  speedy  effect  —  even  then  I 
hoped  something.  Now,  I  hope  everything  — 
if  you  will  consent  to  see  her.  I  beg  you  will  do 
that  — without  delay.  I  beg  that  you  will  send 
up  your  card,  and  request  the  lady  to  receive 
you.  That  alone  would  be  much  to  go  upon 
with  the  Emperor,  who  is  of  a  jealous  dispo 
sition  ;  but,  if  there  could  be  more  —  if  you 
could  persuade  her  to  - 

"Persuade  her  to  —  what  ?"  asked  the  Prince, 
when  the  old  man  paused  for  breath  and 
inspiration. 

"If  she  would  go  to  your  hunting-lodge  —  if 
the  Emperor  could  know  that  she  wras  there  he 
would  be  cured,  once  for  all.  Rhaetia  would 
be  saved — by  you.  And  regarding  the  busi- 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  275 

ness  that  I  think  has  brought  you  -  -  what 
could  be  better  —  for  every  one  concerned  ?" 

"What,  indeed?"  echoed  the  Prince.  "For 
every  one  concerned,  except  for  Minnie  Brand." 

"After  what  she  has  done,  need  she  be  con 
sidered  —  before  the  interests  of  Rhaetia,  and 
another  most  innocent  Royal  lady,  whom  she  is 
doing  her  best  to  humiliate  and  put  to  shame?" 

"I  am  not  sure  that  she  need  be  so  con 
sidered,"  said  the  Prince.  "At  all  events--! 
will  send  up  my  card  -  -  to  Miss  de  Courcy. 
As  for  the  rest  —  it  must  arrange  itself." 

He  took  from  his  pocket  a  little  gold  card- 
case,  sparkling  with  jewels  —  a  trifle  which 
advertised  itself  as  the  gift  of  a  wroman.  "This 
shall  go  upstairs,"  he  said,  selecting  a  bit 
of  engraved  pasteboard.  "And  then  —  we 
shall  see." 

For  five  minutes,  for  ten  minutes,  after 
the  departure  of  the  small,  silent  messenger,  the 
two  men  waited,  talking  of  a  subject  near  to 
both  their  hearts.  But  at  the  end  of  that  time 
word  came  that  Lady  and  Miss  de  Courcy  would 
see  the  Prince. 


276  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

"The  value  of  a  well-regulated  mother!" 
laughed  the  young  man,  who  had  not  requested 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  Lady  de  Courcy.  "  Well, 
whatever  comes  of  this  interview,  I  shall  pres 
ently  have  something  to  tell  you,  Chancellor." 

"The  suspense  will  be  hard  to  bear,"  said  the 
old  man.  "I  am  not  as  young  as  I  was,  and 
these  past  four  days  have  sorely  tried  me. 
Remember,  I  pray  you,  all  that  is  at  stake,  and 
do  not  hesitate.  Have  no  scruple  with  such  a 
woman  as  this.  The  Emperor  will  shortly  be 
returning.  He  will  lose  no  time  in  seeing  the 
girl,  and  —  once  they  have  had  another  meet 
ing,  all  our  precautions  will  be  too  late." 

The  Prince  did  not  smile  as  he  went  out. 

He  had  bidden  the  Chancellor  to  await  his 
return  in  the  salon  of  the  "Royal  suite,"  which 
was  usually  put  at  his  disposal  when  he  was  in 
Rhaetia,  and  drove  in  from  the  Niederwald  to 
Salzbriick.  Other  Royalties  from  foreign  coun 
tries,  or  from  the  provinces,  occasionally  occu 
pied  it  also  — hence  its  name;  and  Apollo  was 
not  the  first  Prince  whom  old  Eberhard  von 
Markstein  had  visited  in  the  "Royal  suite"  of 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  277 

the  Hohenburgerhof.  The  Chancellor  knew  by 
heart  the  rich  purple  hangings  in  the  salon,  with 
the  gold  double  wolf-head  of  Rhaetia  embroid 
ered  on  their  folds;  and  he  sickened  of  them 
now,  as  the  moments  dragged  on  and  on,  and 
he  was  left  alone. 

When  half  an  hour  had  passed,  he  could  no 
longer  sit  still  on  the  purple  velvet  sofa,  but 
walked  up  and  down,  his  hands  behind  him, 
scowling  at  the  full-length  portraits  of  Rhaetia's 
former  Emperors,  glaring  a  question  at  his  own 
reflection  in  the  many  huge  gold-framed  mir 
rors,  a  question  he  would  have  given  his  life  to 
hear  answered  in  the  way  he  wished. 

Three-quarters  of  an  hour  had  gone  at  last, 
and  still  the  Chancellor  paced  the  room  from  end 
to  end,  and  still  the  Prince  did  not  come  back  to 
tell  the  news.  Had  the  young  man  failed  him? 
Had  that  Vivian  upstairs  twisted  the  boy  round 
her  finger,  as  she  had  twisted  one  who  was 
stronger  and  greater  than  he?  Was  it  possible 
that  she  had  wormed  the  whole  secret  from  the 
Prince  and  then  ordered  him  away  from  the 
hotel,  leaving  her  enemy  fuming  in  the  house? 


278  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

But  no,  there  were  footsteps  outside  the  door; 
the  handle  was  turned.  At  least  the  Prince 
was  true  to  his  promise. 

As  the  Chancellor  had  said,  he  was  no  longer 
as  young  as  he  had  been.  His  lips  parted; 
yet  he  could  not  speak,  when  he  would  have 
asked  for  the  result.  But  the  Prince  caught 
the  appeal  in  the  glittering  eyes,  and  did  not 
wait  to  be  interrogated. 

''Well,  I  have  seen  the  lady,"  he  said,  in  a 
voice  that  was  indefinably  changed  in  the  in 
terval  since  he  and  the  Chancellor  had  separated. 

"And  she  is  the  one  you  had  known  ?" 

"Yes.  She  is  the  one  I  had  known.  What  is 
more,  Chancellor,  it  —  it's  all  right  about  that 
plan^of  yours.  She  is  going  with  me  to  Biinden." 

"  She  is  ?     Heaven  be  praised !     When  ? ' ' 

"At  once.  That  is,  as  soon  as  she  can  get 
ready." 

"Nothing  could  be  better.  I  trust  she  goes 
with  you  alone  ?  The  presence  of  the  mother 
as  chaperon  would  be  unfortunate." 

"Oh,  no  chaperon  is  needed  for  us.  The  — 
mother  stops  behind  with  a  companion  they 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  279 

have,  who  is  ill.  It  —  er  —  it  was  a  little  diffi 
cult  to  arrange  this  matter,  but  —  I  don't  think 
the  plot  will  fail,  provided  you  carry  through 
your  part  as  well  as  I  have  mine." 

"The  lady  goes  with  you  quite  of  her  own 
free  will?5' 

"I  —  er  —  I  flatter  myself  that  she  is  rather 
pleased  with  the  invitation.  In  half  an  hour 
or  so,  if  all  is  well,  I  and  the  lady  fair  will  be  on 
our  way  to  my  hunting-lodge,  to  spend  an  agree 
able  evening  in  each  other's  society  and  talk 
over  old  times.  Fortunately  I  went  straight  out 
there  this  morning  before  coming  to  Salzbruck 
to  see  you;  and  though  I  was  not  expected  back 
to  dinner,  there  will  be  something  eatable  in 
the  house,  I  dare  say  —  something  I  need  not 
be  ashamed  to  offer  a  lady." 

The  Prince  pulled  a  hunting-watch  from  the 
pocket  of  an  elaborate  waistcoat  (he  merited 
the  reputation  of  being  the  best-dressed  young 
man  in  Europe)  and  consulted  it  reflectively. 
"It  is  now  nearly  four-thirty.  By  six,  the  hour 
at  which  I  should  have  sat  down  to  my  early 
dinner  here  (alas,  for  a  good  dinner  sacrificed 


280  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

on  the  altar  of  duty!),  we  shall  be  approaching 
the  outskirts  of  the  Niederwald,  my  pretty  friend 
and  I.  Biinden  is  three  miles  farther  on,  my 
place  two  miles  beyond  Biinden.  But  before 
seven  o'clock  I  shall  be  showing  the  lady  the 
beauties  of  my  Rhaetian  hunting-lodge,  which 
I  have  more  than  once  described  to  her.  Din 
ner  can,  on  one  excuse  or  another,  be  delayed 
until  nearly  nine,  if  it  would  suit  your  book  to 
find  us  in  the  midst  of  our  repast.  My  dining- 
room  is  not  a  grand  salon,  but  it  has  light  and 
colour,  and  would  not  make  a  bad  background 
for  the  last  act  of  this  little  comedy.  What  do 
you  say,  Chancellor?  I  have  always  thought 
that  your  success  as  stage-manager  in  the 
Theatre  of  all  Nations  was  partially  due  to 
your  regard  for  dramatic  effects." 

"They  are  not  to  be  despised."  assented  the 
Chancellor. 

"  Well,  I  promise  you  that  the  footlights  shall 
be  lighted,  the  stage  set,  and  two  of  your  lead 
ing  puppets  dressed  and  painted  for  the  show, 
precisely  at  the  hour  of  nine.  When  can  you 
count  on  the  appearance  of  the  third  ?" 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  281 

The  bristling  brows  met.  Von  Markstein  was 
working  without  scruple  against  Maximilian, 
for  Maximilian's  good;  yet  he  could  tolerate  no 
light  speaking  of  the  master  he  would  betray. 

"When  His  Majesty  telephones  to  me  from 
Wandeck  as  he  has  promised  to  do,  on  his  ar 
rival  there,"  said  the  old  man  stiffly,  "I  shall 
inform  him  of  what  has  taken  place  in  his 
absence.  If  I  know  him  in  his  present  ardent 
mood,  he  will  order  a  special  train  to  return  to 
Salzbriick.  In  that  case,  he  will  arrive  before 
eight;  and  all  else  falling  as  I  now  confidently 
expect,  we  shall  be  able  to  reach  the  hunting- 
lodge  by  half-past  nine." 

"You  will  find  us  at  the  third  course,"  proph 
esied  the  Prince. 

"  Naturally,  the  Emperor's  sudden  appearance 
will  come  as  a  blow  to  the  lady,"  returned  the 
Chancellor,  watching  wTith  veiled  keenness  the 
other's  placid,  perfect  face.  "She  would  not 
dare  take  the  risk  if  she  dreamed  that  he  would 
discover  her  escapade  and  follow,  great  as  is  the 
temptation  to  enjoy  your  society;  indeed,  Prince, 
you  must  have  found  subtle  weapons  to  break 


282  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

so  soon  through  the  armour  of  her  prudence.  I 
expected  much  from  your  courage  and  resource, 
once  enlisted  in  the  cause,  yet  I  hardly  ventured 
to  expect  such  speedy,  such  unqualified  suc 
cess  as  this  that  seems  assured." 

"My  weapons  were  sharpened  on  my  past 
acquaintance  with  the  lady,"  explained  the 
Prince.  "Without  that,  the  desired  result 
might  have  waited  as  many  days  as  it  has  taken 
moments,  though,  at  last,  the  end  would  per 
haps  have  been  the  same." 

"Not  for  Rhaetia.  Every  moment  counts 
with  us,  as  I  have  said.  Thanks  to  you,  we 
shall  win;  for  actress  as  this  woman  is,  she  will 
find  the  justification  of  an  evening  tete-a-tete  with 
you,  at  your  hunting-lodge  in  the  country,  a 
task  beyond  her  powers." 

"If  she  makes  the  effort,  we  can  afford  to  be 
audience  and  amuse  ourselves  with  her  acting, 
as  the  comedy  plays  itself  out,"  said  the  Prince. 
"  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  —  whatever 
may  be  her  conception  of  the  part  —  as  to  the 
final  tableau.  And,  after  all,  it  is  that  alone  with 
which  you  concern  yourself  — eh,  Chancellor?" 


THE  CHANCELLOR'S  LUCK  283 

"It  is  that  alone,"  echoed  the  old  man.  "  And 
now,  lest  by  a  hitch  in  the  stage  mechanism  - 
since  you  choose  that  figure  of  speech  —  some 
thing  should  yet  go  wrong,  I  must  make  haste 
home,  that  I  may  be  in  time  to  receive  the 
Emperor's  communication  from  Wandeck." 

"  If  he  should  forget  to  send  —  there  would  be 
rather  a  serious  hitch,  would  it  not?" 

"The  Emperor  has  never,  in  my  knowledge 
of  him,  forgotten  to  keep  a  promise,  and  I  am 
certain  he  is  not  enough  changed  to  do  so  even 
now.  Au  revoir,  Prince;  till  half-past  nine." 

"Till  half-past  nine,  when  a  warm  welcome 
awaits  you,  from  one  of  the  dramatis  personce. 
For  the  other  —  I  cannot  answer." 

Laughing,  the  two  grasped  hands  on  their 
understanding.  The  Chancellor  went  out  to 
his  carriage,  which  had  been  kept  at  the  door 
and  a  few  minutes  later  he  was  conversing  with 
Maximilian  through  the  telephone. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    OLDNESS   OF   THE    CHANCELLOR 

MAXIMILIAN  had  not  made  an  appoint 
ment  with  the  Chancellor  through  the 
telephone,  either  for  an  hour  or  place  of  meet 
ing.  He  had  been  in  no  mood  at  the  time  for 
the  cool  mapping  out  of  details;  and  later,  when 
there  had  been  plenty  of  leisure  for  reflection, 
he  had  let  himself  hope  that  the  Chancellor 
would  already  be  willing  to  qualify  his  rash 
accusations.  If  this  were  so,  the  old  man  would 
be  as  eager  to  avoid  a  visit  to  the  hunting- 
lodge  as  he  had  been  a  few  hours  ago  to  pro 
pose  it.  Maximilian  did  not  mean  to  let  Von 
Markstein  escape  the  obligation  of  this  visit, 
but  he  would  have  triumphed  in  the  Chancellor's 
desire  to  evade  it,  which  would  have  meant  much. 
"If  he  still  persists  in  his  abominable  idea  that 
she  has  gone  to  the  hunting-lodge,"  thought  the 
Emperor  (with  that  vagueness  of  expression 

284 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  285 

which  lovers  of  high  or  low  degree  use  in  desig 
nating  the  one  woman  in  the  world),  "he  will 
risk  no  chance  of  missing  me,  but  will  be  waiting 
at  the  station.  Should  he,  on  the  contrary,  have 
had  reason  since  our  talk  to  doubt  the  accuracy 
of  his  own  information,  he  will  take  advantage 
of  the  uncertainty  I've  left  him  in  regarding 
my  movements,  to  keep  out  of  the  way." 

So  arguing,  Maximilian  looked  sharply  from 
the  window  as  his  special  train  entered  the 
Salzbriick  station  along  the  track  that  had  been 
kept  clear  for  its  arrival.  No  other  train  was 
due  from  any  direction  at  the  moment,  there 
fore  few  persons  were  on  the  platform,  and  a 
figure  in  a  long  gray  coat,  with  its  face  shadowed 
by  a  slouch  hat,  was  all  the  more  conspicuous. 
Maximilian's  heart  sank.  He  believed  in  his 
love,  but  he  would  have  preferred  the  Chan 
cellor's  absence. 

"I  hope  that  Your  Majesty  will  forgive  the 
liberty  I  have  taken  in  being  here,  to  place 
myself  at  your  convenience  and  so  avoid  delay," 
were  the  old  man's  first  words,  as  he  took  off 
his  hat  to  the  Emperor.  "  I  drove  down  from  my 


236  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

house  some  time  ago,  expecting  that  you  might 
arrive  by  special  train;  and  I  need  hardly  say 
that  my  carriage,  which  is  waiting,  is  at  your  dis 
posal  for  any  use  you  may  care  to  make  of  it." 

"I  wish  to  go  instantly  to  the  hunting-lodge 
near  Biinden,"  said  the  Emperor,  watching  the 
other's  face,  and  still  hoping  against  hope  for  a 
visible  sign  of  discomfiture.  But  he  was  not 
to  be  gratified. 

"  I  was  prepared  for  that  wish,  Your  Majesty," 
promptly  said  the  Chancellor.  "  The  horses  are 
fresh,  and  they  will  make  the  journey  in  an  hour 
and  a  half." 

"Very  well,  then,  there  is  nothing  that  need 
delay  us.  You  are  ready  to  go  with  me,  of 
course?"  Another  detective  glance,  destined 
again  to  pass  unrewarded  by  revelations. 

"I  am  ready,  Your  Majesty  —  as  always,  I 
trust,  when  I  am  needed." 

It  was  on  Maximilian's  tongue  to  say  that  it 
would  be  well  if  his  Chancellor's  readiness  con 
fined  itself  entirely  to  such  occasions;  but  he  shut 
his  lips  upon  the  words  and  walked  by  the  old 
man's  side  in  frozen  silence. 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  287 

It  was  not  yet  eight  o'clock,  but  the  month  of 
October  had  just  begun,  and  the  sun  having  set 
an  hour  or  more  ago,  the  swiftly  fading  Rhaetian 
twilight  had  darkened  into  a  starlit  night. 
Though  the  day  had  been  warm,  there  was  now 
a  crisp  keenness  in  the  air,  and  the  Chancellor's 
coachman  and  groom  had  prepared  themselves 
with  high  sable  collars  for  their  country  drive. 

The  horses,  which  had  been  kept  moving  up 
and  down  the  long  straight  avenue  of  the 
Bahnhofstrasse,  were  nervous  and  restive,  and 
no  sooner  had  the  green- liveried  footman  shut 
the  carriage  door  than  they  bounded  off  at  a 
pace  almost  beyond  control. 

Both  windows  were  closed,  to  keep  out  the 
chill,  but  Maximilian  impatiently  lowered  the 
one  nearest  him,  forgetting  the  Chancellor's  ten 
dency  to  rheumatism,  and  stared  into  the  night. 
The  railway  station  was  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town;  and  speedily  passing  the  few  warehouses 
and  factories  in  the  neighbourhood,  they  struck 
into  the  open  country.  There  was  a  pungent 
scent  of  dying  leaves  on  the  breeze  that  blew  in 
through  the  open  window,  and  Maximilian 


288  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

knew  that  never  again  could  he  inhale  the 
melancholy  fragrance  of  the  falling  year  with 
out  recalling  this  hour,  so  vivid  with  sensations. 

He  was  desperately  eager  to  reach  the  end  of 
the  journey,  that  the  Chancellor  might  be  con 
founded  once  for  all;  yet,  as  the  horses'  hoofs 
rang  tunefully  along  the  hard  roads,  and  land 
mark  after  landmark  glided  out  of  sight  among 
tree-branches  thickly  laced  with  stars,  he  would 
have  stayed  the  passing  moments  if  he  could. 
He  wished  to  know,  yet  he  did  not  wish  to 
know.  He  burned  to  ask  questions,  yet  would 
have  died  rather  than  put  them. 

It  was  a  relief  when  Von  Markstein  spoke 
at  last;  a  relief  that  brought  a  prick  of  re 
sentment  with  it;  for  even  the  Chancellor 
had  no  right  to  break  a  silence  that  the 
Emperor  kept. 

'Your  Majesty's  anger  is  hard  to  bear.  Yet 
I  can  bear  it  uncomplainingly,  because  I  am  con 
fident  that  my  reward  is  not  far  off.  I  look  for 
it  no  further  in  the  future  than  to-night." 

"And  I  think  that  you  will  get  your  reward!" 
retorted  the  Emperor  sharply. 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  289 

"Not  only  in  your  forgiveness,  but  your 
thanks." 

"I  will  forgive  you  when  you  have  found  Miss 
de  Courcy  for  me,  and  begged  her  pardon  for 
your  calumnies." 

"I  have  already  found  her,  Your  Majesty, 
and  am  taking  you  to  her  now." 

"You  actually  believe  your  own  story,  Von 
Markstein  ?  You  believe  that  this  sweet  and 
gracious  lady  is  a  fast  actress,  a  friend  of  your 
notoriously  gallant  friend,  and  willing  to  com 
promise  her  good  name  by  paying  a  night  visit 
to  his  hunting-lodge  ?  You  really  think  that  we 
shall  see  her  there  ?" 

"I  shall  see  her,  Your  Majesty.  And  you 
will  see  her,  if  this  madness  you  call  love  has  not 
blinded  the  eyes  of  your  body  as  well  as  of  your 
mind.  That  she  is  there  I  know,  for  the  Prince 
told  me  with  his  own  lips  that  she  was  driving 
out  to  the  lodge  with  him  this  afternoon." 

"You  mean  that  he  told  you  his  friend  the 
actress  was  going.  Til  stake  my  life  he  did  not 
dare  to  say  Miss  de  Courcy." 

"He  said  Miss  Brand,  the  actress,  it  is  true. 


290  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

But  when  he  called  upon  her  at  the  Hohen- 
burgerhof  (where  he  and  I  had  met  to  talk  of  a 
matter  which  can  be  no  mystery  to  Your  Maj 
esty)  he  asked  for  Miss  de  Courcy.  And  the 
message  which  came  down  was  that  Miss  de 
Courcy  would  see  him.  This  left  no  doubt  in 
my  mind  (however  the  matter  may  present 
itself  to  you)  that  she  had  remained  in  Salz- 
briick,  after  giving  out  that  she  was  departing 
to-day,  for  the  express  purpose  of  a  meeting 
with  her  old  friend,  the  Prince.  She  probably 
hoped  that,  as  she  was  supposed  to  be  gone, 
her  indiscretion  might  be  hidden  from  Your 
Majesty  and  others." 

"Pray  spare  me  your  deductions,  Chancellor," 
said  the  Emperor  curtly.  "I  am  with  you  in 
this  expedition  to  prove  you  wrong,  not  right, 
and  nothing  that  you  can  say  will  convince 
me  that  the  Prince's  friend  and  Miss  de  Courcy 
are  one.  If  we  find  a  woman  at  the  hunting- 
lodge  it  will  not  be  the  lady  we  seek;  and  as  you 
will  presently  be  ready  to  eat  the  words  you 
have  spoken,  the  fewer  such  bitter  pills  you 
have  to  swallow,  the  better." 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  291 

So  snubbed  by  the  young  man  whom  he  had 
held  in  his  arms,  an  imperious  as  well  as  Imperial 
infant,  the  old  statesman  relapsed  into  silence. 
But  he  had  said  that  which  had  been  in  his 
mind  to  say,  and  he  was  satisfied  to  know  that 
it  was  left  to  rankle.  Meekness  was  not  his 
metier,  but  he  could  play  the  part  of  the  faithful 
retainer,  humbly  loyal  through  injustice  and 
misunderstanding,  when  it  was  the  one  effective 
role;  and  he  played  it  now  to  perfection.  He 
sat  with  bowed  head  and  stooping  shoulders, 
suggesting  the  weakness  of  old  age,  his  hands 
clasped  on  his  knee;  and  from  time  to  time  he 
breathed  a  stifled  sigh. 

His  silent  pathos  wrung  no  sign  of  relenting 
from  Maximilian,  however,  and  not  a  word  was 
exchanged  between  the  two  men  for  nearly  an 
hour,  until  they  had  driven  under  the  dark  arch 
of  the  first  trees  of  the  Niederwald.  Then  it 
was  the  Emperor  who  spoke. 

"You  have  led  me  to  suppose  that  our  call  at 
the  hunting-lodge  is  to  take  its  master  by  sur 
prise.  Is  that  supposition  the  correct  one, 
Chancellor?" 


292  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Count  von  Markstein  would  greatly  have  pre 
ferred  that  this  question  should  have  remained 
in  abeyance.  He  had  intended  to  convey  the 
impression  credited  to  him  by  the  Emperor,  but 
he  had  not  wished  to  clothe  it  in  actual  state 
ment.  The  Prince  understood  that  he  was  to 
be  the  leading  actor  in  the  "little  comedy"  to 
which  he  had  merrily  referred,  and  he  would 
know  how  to  feign  the  astonishment  indispen 
sable  to  success.  It  was  to  be  hoped  that  he 
would  have  the  skill  to  carry  it  out  to  the  end, 
since  the  Chancellor  was  now  called  upon 
irrevocably  to  commit  himself. 

:<Were  our  visit  expected,  we  should  not  be 
likely  to  find  the  lady,  Your  Majesty.  The 
Prince,  who  is  on  terms  of  confidence  with  me, 
did  not  hesitate  to  mention  that  he  was  to  have 
a  pretty  actress  as  his  guest;  how  could  he 
dream  that  the  event  would  be  of  importance 
to  the  Emperor  of  Rhaetia?  But  had  h^ 
known  that  the  entertainment  he  meant  to  offer 
her  might  be  interrupted,  naturally  he  would,  out 
of  consideration  for  the  lady's  feelings,  have  taken 
means  to  secure  her  against  embarrassment." 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  293 

"This  night's  work  will  give  him  cause  to 
pick  a  private  quarrel  with  me,  if  he  chooses," 
said  the  Emperor,  satisfied  at  least  of  the  Chan 
cellor's  integrity. 

"I  do  not  think  that  he  will  choose,  Your 
Majesty.  You  are  in  a  mood  to  be  glad  if  he 
did,  I  fear.  But,  after  all,  I  need  not  fear.  You 
will  always  remember  Rhaetia  and  put  her 
interests  before  your  own." 

"You  did  not  feel  so  confident  of  that  a  few 
hours  ago,  Chancellor." 

"I  was  taken  by  surprise.  But  I  knew  well 
enough  in  my  heart  that  when  the  test  should 
come,  Your  Majesty's  cool  head  would  prevail 
over  the  hot  impulses  of  youth.  See,  we  are 
passing  through  the  village  of  Biinden,  fast 
asleep  already,  every  window  dark.  In  another 
ten  minutes  we  shall  be  at  the  lodge  gates." 

The  Emperor  laughed  shortly  and  somewhat 
bitterly.  "Add  twice  ten  minutes  to  that,  and 
we  shall  be  out  of  the  lodge  gates  again,  with 
Chancellor  von  Markstein  a  sadder  and  a  wiser 


man.'' 


Meekness  was  once  more  the  role  for  "  Iron 


294  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Heart,"  and  lifting  his  hands,  palm  upward,  in 
a  gesture  of  generous  indulgence,  he  denied 
himself  the  satisfaction  of  retort. 

The  hunting-lodge,  now  the  property  of  the 
Chancellor's  accommodating  young  friend,  had 
until  a  year  ago  belonged  to  a  Rhaetian  semi- 
royal  prince,  who  had  been  forced  by  lack  of 
sympathy  among  his  creditors  to  sell.  The 
present  owner  was  a  keen  sportsman,  and, 
though  he  came  seldom,  had  spent  a  good  deal 
of  money  upon  much  needed  repairing  of  the 
quaint  old  house  in  the  woods.  It  was  years 
since  the  Emperor  had  visited  the  place,  and 
the  very  outlines  of  the  low  rambling  structure 
looked  strange  to  him,  as  in  the  distance  they 
were  silhouetted  against  a  spangled  sky.  He 
was  glad  of  this;  for  he  had  spent  some  happy 
days  here  as  a  boy,  and  he  wished  to  separate 
from  the  past  the  impressions  which  to-night 
must  engrave  upon  his  mind. 

Two  tall  chimneys  stood  up  like  the  erected 
ears  of  some  alert,  crouching  animal;  the  path 
to  the  lodge  gleamed  white  and  straight  in  the 
darkness  as  a  parting  in  the  rough  black  hair 


THE  OLDNESS  OF  THE  CHANCELLOR  295 

of  a  giant;  the  trees  of  the  forest  gossiped 
together  in  the  wind.  It  seemed  to  Maximilian 
now  that  they  were  evil  things  who  told  lies, 
slandering  his  love,  and  he  hated  them,  and 
their  rustling;  he  hated  the  two  yellow  eyes 
of  the  animal  with  pricked  ears,  which  were 
only  lighted  windows;  he  hated  the  young 
Prince  who  had  bought  the  right  to  bring 
scandal  to  this  quiet  place,  and  he  would  have 
hated  the  Chancellor,  had  not  the  old  man 
limped  as  he  stepped  down  from  the  carriage, 
showing  how  heavy  was  the  burden  of  his  years, 
as  he  had  never  shown  it  before. 

The  carriage  was  bidden  to  wait  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  lodge,  and  Maximilian,  with 
"Iron  Heart"  at  his  side,  walked  up  the  path 
that  led  to  a  hooded  entrance.  They  ascended 
the  two  or  three  stone  steps,  and  the  Chancellor 
raised  the  mailed,  clenched  fist  that  did  duty 
as*  a  knocker.  Twice  he  brought  it  down  on 
the  oak  panel,  and  the  sound  of  the  metal 
ringing  against  wood  went  echoing  away  through 
the  house,  with  an  effect  o£  emptiness  and 
desolation. 


296  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Nobody  came  to  answer  the  summons,  and 
Maximilian  smiled  in  the  darkness.  He  did 
not  believe  even  that  the  Prince  was  there;  a 
practical  joke  had  been  played  upon  the 
Chancellor. 

Again  the  mailed  fist  rang  on  oak.  Only 
the  echo  replied.  Von  Markstein  was  alarmed. 
He  thanked  the  night,  which  hid  the  tell-tale 
vein  beating  on  his  forehead  from  the  keen  eyes 
of  the  Emperor. 

"I  begin  to  think,  Von  Markstein,  that  we 
might  as  well  look  for  Miss  de  Courcy  in  a  more 
likely,  and,  at  the  same  time,  more  becoming 
place,"  he  remarked,  with  a  drawl  meant  to  be 
aggravating.  "There  doesn't  seem  to  be  any 
one  here;  even  the  caretaker  is  out  courting, 
perhaps." 

"But  listen,  Your  Majesty,"  said  the  Chan 
cellor. 

Maximilian  did  listen.  Steps  could  be  heard 
approaching  the  door  inside  the  house  —  the 
sound  of  a  heel  on  a  floor  of  stone  or  marble. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  OPENING   OF   A   DOOR 

IT  WAS  a  jager  who  opened  the  door  of  the 
hunting-lodge  and  gazed  at  the  two  men 
standing  in  the  shadow  of  the  porch,  apparently 
without  recognition. 

:<We  wish  to  see  the  Prince,"  said  the  Chan 
cellor  crisply,  taking  the  initiative,  as  he  knew 
that  the  Emperor  would  desire  him  to  do. 

"The  Prince  is  not  at  home,  sir,"  returned 
the  jager. 

Maximilian's  eyes  lightened  as  he  threw  a 
glance  of  sarcastic  meaning  at  his  companion. 
But "  Iron  Heart"  was  undaunted.  He  knew  very 
well  now  that  this  was  only  a  prelude  to  the 
comedy,  and  though  he  had  had  a  pang  of 
anxiety  at  first,  he  thought  that  his  young  friend 
was  playing  the  part  allotted  him  with  com 
mendable  realism.  Naturally,  when  beautiful 
actresses  came  into  the  country  unchaperoned, 

297 


298  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

to  dine  with  fascinating  princes,  the  least  such 
favoured  Royalties  could  do  was  to  issue  notice 
to  an  intrusive  public  that  they  were  "not  at 
home." 

"You  are  mistaken,"  returned  the  Chancellor 
"The  Prince  is  at  home,  and  he  will  receive  us. 
It  will  be  better  for  you  to  admit  us  without 
further  parley." 

Under  the  domination  of  the  eyes  which  could 
quell  a  Reichstag,  the  jager  weakened,  as 
doubtless  his  master  had  expected  would  happen 
in  good  time.  "If  may  be  that  I  have  made  a 
mistake,  sir,"  he  stammered,  "though  I  do  not 
think  so.  If  you  will  have  the  kindness  to 
walk  in  and  wait  until  I  can  inquire  whether  the 
Prince  has  come  home,  or  when  he  is  likely  to 
come  home,  I " 

"That  is  not  necessary,"  said  the  Chancellor. 
"The  Prince  dines  here  with  a  lady  this  evening. 
We  will  go  with  you  to  the  door  of  the  dining- 
room,  and  follow  your  announcement  of  our 
presence." 

But  the  jager  was  no  longer  uncertain  of  his 
duty.  The  reaction  had  come,  and  he  faced 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  DOOR  299 

the  invaders  boldly.  If  his  master  had  given 
instructions  only  to  be  overridden,  at  least  the 
servant  was  sincere  in  his  respect  for  them.  He 
put  himself  in  the  doorway,  and  looked  a 
barrier  formidable  to  dislodge. 

"That  is  impossible,  sir!"  he  exclaimed.  "I 
have  my  orders,  which  are  that  His  Royal 
Highness  is  not  at  home  to-night,  and  until  I 
find  out  differently,  nobody,  not  if  it  were  the 
Emperor  himself,  should  force  himself  in." 

"You  fool,  those  orders  are  not  for  us;  and 
it  is  the  Emperor  who  will  go  in."  With  a  step 
aside,  the  Chancellor  let  the  light  from  a  hang 
ing  lamp  in  the  hall  shine  full  upon  Maximilian's 
face,  hitherto  masked  in  shadow. 

His  boast  forgotten,  the  jager  uttered  an 
exclamation  of  dismay,  and,  with  a  sudden 
falling  of  the  knees,  he  left  the  doorway  free. 

"Your  Majesty!"  he  faltered.  "I  did  not 
see  —  I  could  not  know !  Most  humbly  I  beg 
Your  Majesty's  gracious  pardon.  If  Your  Maj 
esty  will  but  hold  me  blameless  with  His  Royal 
Highness " 

"Never  mind  yourself,  and  never  mind  His 


300  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

Royal  Highness,"  broke  in  the  Chancellor. 
"Open  that  door  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  and 
announce  the  Emperor  and  Count  von  Mark- 
stein." 

The  unfortunate  jager,  well-nigh  in  a  state 
of  collapse,  obeyed.  The  door  of  the  dining- 
room,  which  Maximilian  knew  of  old,  was  flung 
wide,  and  a  quavering  voice  made  known  to 
whom  it  might  concern  the  arrival  of  "His 
Imperial  Majesty  the  Emperor  and  the  Herr 
Chancellor  von  Markstein." 

The  scene  disclosed  was  as  unreal,  in  Maxi 
milian's  eyes,  as  a  painted  picture:  the  walls 
of  Pompeian  red,  the  bronze  candelabra,  the 
polished  floor,  with  rugs  of  creamy  fur,  and  in 
the  centre  a  flower-decked  table  glittering  with 
lights,  sparkling  with  silver;  springing  up  from 
his  chair  a  young  man  in  evening  dress,  who 
faced  the  door;  sitting  motionless,  her  back 
half-turned,  a  slender  girl  in  satin  of  bridal 
white,  her  uncovered  shoulders  gleaming  with 
the  soft  sheen  of  pearl  in  the  candle-light.  This 
was  the  stage  setting;  these  the  characters 
discovered. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  DOOR  301 

At  sight  of  the  girl  Maximilian  stopped  on 
the  threshold.  All  the  blood  in  his  body  seemed 
rushing  to  his  head,  then  surging  back  again 
upon  his  heart.  The  impossible  had  hap 
pened.  His  star  had  fallen  from  heaven,  and 
the  sky  was  dark. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    THIRD    COURSE 

THE  Prince  came  forward.  '  What  a  de 
lightful  surprise!"  he  exclaimed.  "How 
good  of  you  both  to  look  me  up!  But  I  wish 
my  prophetic  soul  had  hinted  to  me  that  it 
would  have  been  well  to  delay  dinner.  We 
have  just  reached  the  third  course." 

His  eyes  met  the  Chancellor's,  then  hid  a 
twinkle  under  lashes  that  a  professional  beauty 
might  have  envied.  "You  must  honour  me 
by  dining  with  us,"  he  went  on.  "All  will  be 
ready  in  a  moment,  and  I  keep  a  man  here 
whose  bisque  d'ecrevisse  is  not  half  bad." 

"Thanks,"  said  Maximilian,  "we cannot  dine. 
Our  visit  is  purely  one  of  business,  and  a 
moment  will  see  it  finished.  We  owe  you  an 
explanation  for  intruding  upon  you  in  this 
manner."  He  paused;  all  his  calculations  were 
upset  by  Von  Markstein's  triumph;  deliberately 

302 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  303 

to  plan  beforehand  what  he  would  do  if  he  should 
find  Miss  de  Courcy  in  this  man's  house  would 
have  been  to  insult  her.  He  had  merely 
arranged  a  campaign  in  the  event  of  the  Chan 
cellor's  defeat.  Now,  the  one  course  which 
appealed  to  him  was  frankness.  He  did  not 
look  at  the  girl,  though  he  saw  her,  and  her 
alone,  with  his  eyes  coldly  fixed  upon  the  Prince. 
He  knew  that  she  had  risen,  not  in  haste,  as 
one  who  is  detected  and  ashamed,  but  with  a 
leisured  and  dainty  dignity,  as  if  concerned 
only  to  respect  his  rank.  Her  face  was  turned 
toward  him  now;  he  felt  it  —  as  a  blind  man 
may  feel  the  rising  of  the  sun  —  though  still  he 
would  not  look.  No  longer  ago  than  last  night 
at  this  hour  they  had  been  together  in  the 
garden  at  Schloss  Lynarberg;  he  had  held  her 
in  his  arms ;  she  had  made  him  think  she  loved 
him.  She  had  acted  an  agony  of  resentment 
because  he  had  offered  her  his  heart  in  his  left 
hand.  Now  she  was  here  with  this  butterfly 
who  flitted  through  life  in  a  rose-garden  of 
pretty  women.  They  had  been  laughing  and 
talking  before  they  were  interrupted  —  these 


304  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

two  at  the  dinner-table.  The  champagne  glass 
beside  her  plate  was  half-full.  On  the  plate 
was  fish,  with  a  pink  sauce;  she  had  been 
enjoying  her  dinner  in  the  Prince's  company. 
Maximilian  was  not  conscious  that  he  had  seen 
and  noted  all  these  trifling  details  which,  to 
gether,  proved  her  a  soulless  thing,  light  and 
worthless  as  a  piece  of  thistledown  yet  each 
one  was  like  a  separate  poisoned  thorn  that 
rankled  in  his  flesh. 

His  pause,  his  search  for  the  words  of  explana 
tion  which  he  had  volunteered  was  really 
brief  --  scarcely  so  long  as  to  count  for  a  pause 
at  all;  yet  he  had  aged  in  it.  He  felt  that 
youth  and  the  joy  of  life  had  fallen  from  him 
like  a  mantle,  since  he  stepped  across  the 
threshold. 

"I  have  spent  some  hours  to-day,"  he  said, 
"in  looking  for  this  lady.  I  was  told  that  I 
should  find  her  in  your  company.  I  came,  and 
brought  Count  von  Markstein,  to  prove  to  him 
that  he  was  mistaken.  Instead,  my  mistake 
has  been  proved  to  his  satisfaction,  since  Miss 
de  Courcy  is  here." 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  305 

"Miss  de  Courcy  is  not  here,"  broke  in  the 
girl,  speaking  for  the  first  time.  "I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  she  is  in  India." 

"I  would  to  heaven  that  you  were  with  her 
or  anywhere  on  earth  but  where  you  are!" 
cried  the  Emperor.  He  turned  to  the  Prince. 
"You  have  my  explanation,"  he  said.  "It 
remains  only  for  Count  von  Markstein  and  me 
to  bid  you  and  this  lady  good-night." 

The  twinkle  had  died  out  of  the  Prince's 
eyes,  and  they  sparkled  with  another  light. 
The  scene,  though  planned,  had  not  been 
rehearsed;  and  the  effect  upon  himself,  now 
that  it  came  to  be  acted,  differed  from  his 
expectations.  His  quick  temper,  never  too 
fast  asleep  to  wake  at  the  first  call,  sprang  up 
under  the  look  in  Maximilian's  eyes. 

"You'll  not  bid  her  good-night  in  that  manner, 
if  you  please,"  he  angrily  began,  when  the  girl, 
catching  his  arm,  cut  him  short.  The  familiar 
way  in  which  she  touched  the  gay  young 
Apollo,  resting  against  his  shoulder,  sent  a 
red-hot  dart  of  pain  through  Maximilian's 
nerves,  and  he  scorned  himself  for  it,  because 


306  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

his  love  ought  already  to  have  been  uprooted, 
like  a  noxious  weed. 

"Wait,  wait!"  she  cried.  "This  is  my  affair, 
please.  You  see,  the  difficulty  is  that  the 
Emperor  doesn't  know  who  I  am,  and  - 

"It  is  time  I  told  him!"  exclaimed  the  Prince. 

"Let  the  Chancellor  do  that,"  said  she.  "I 
can  see  he  is  dying  to.  And  as  he  has  taken  a 
great  deal  of  trouble,  he  deserves  some  reward." 

"I  have  already  informed  His  Imperial 
Majesty  that  he  would  find  w^ith  the  Prince  Miss 
Minnie  Brand,  an  English  actress"  —  the  old 
man  bowed,  sneering -- "justly  famous  for 
her  talents." 

"And  His  Majesty.  What  does  he  say?" 
The  girl's  voice  sounded  anxious  now,  even 
wistful.  She  still  stood  beside  the  Prince,  but 
her  eyes  so  appealed  to  Maximilian's  that  he 
could  not  withhold  them,  granting  her  at  last 
a  cold  and  fixed  regard. 

"I  say  nothing,"  he  answered.  'You  have 
left  me  nothing  to  say.  You  are  the  Prince's 
friend.  You  do  not  need  anything  that  I  can 
give." 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  307 

"Yet  last  night,"  she  cried,  "you  said  you 
loved  me." 

"Is  this  the  place  to  remind  me  of  that?"  he 
demanded  fiercely. 

"Yes;  because  I  came  here  hoping  that  you 
would  follow.  I  do  care  for  the  Prince;  I 
should  be  very  ungrateful  if  I  didn't;  but  I 
care  far  more  for  you." 

The  boldness  of  the  announcement,  its 
astounding  impertinence,  coming  as  it  did, 
when  and  where  it  did,  was  like  a  smart  box 
upon  the  ear,  literally  staggering  Maximilian. 
Sparks  danced  before  his  eyes.  He  opened 
his  lips  to  answer  her  with  deadly  bitterness, 
but  did  not  speak.  With  one  look,  that  pent 
up  all  the  passion  of  outraged  love,  and  a  fury 
of  disappointment  that  was  and  must  ever  be 
unutterable,  he  turned  upon  his  heel. 

'You  would  go  and  leave  me  here?" 
exclaimed  the  girl. 

He  wheeled  round  in  the  doorway.  "I  am 
not  sure  how  to  address  you,"  he  said,  "since 
you  no  longer  claim  the  name  by  which  I  have 
thought  of  you,  nor  do  I  seem  any  longer  to 


308  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

know  you.  But  if  there  be  the  slightest  doubt 
in  your  mind  as  to  your  desire  to  stay  here,  I  — 
Count  von  Markstein  and  I  —  would  gladly 
place  our  carriage  at  your  service." 

She  ran  to  him,  holding  out  both  hands, 
like  a  child  who  asks  indulgence.  "If  I  can 
explain,"  she  said,  with  quickening  breath,  her 
eyes  shining,  starlike,  "if  I  tell  you  that  it  is 
quite,  quite  a  mistake,  that  there  was  no 
thought  of  harm  in  my  coming  to  this  house, 
that  I  am  true  to  all  you  thought  me,  to  all 
I  hope  you  thought  me,  will  you  believe  my 
word?" 

Maximilian  looked  her  in  the  eyes  and 
straightway  forgot  that  he  and  she  were  not 
alone.  And  the  Chancellor  saw  that  he  forgot, 
and  wished  much  to  remind  him  of  many  things 
connected  with  his  own  presence.  But  even 
he  dared  not  speak  at  that  instant,  and  had 
to  listen,  biting  his  lip  with  a  well-preserved 
tooth. 

"Believe  your  word!"  the  Emperor  echoed 
slowly.  He  would  have  said,  "Why  should  I 
believe  it,  when  it  is  enough  that  I  believe  my 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  309 

eyes?"  But  he  was  gazing  into  hers,  and  so 
he  could  not  say  it.  No  other  woman's  eyes  had 
ever  before  had  power  to  play  tricks  with  his 
will,  therefore  he  was  the  more  ready  to  fall 
under  the  spell  of  hers.  "I  must  believe  it!" 
he  pronounced.  "It  is  death  to  doubt  you. 
Tell  me  you  are  all  I  thought  you,  show  me  how 
it  can  be  so,  and  I  will  believe  in  spite  of  every 
thing." 

"Your  Majesty!"  groaned  the  Chancellor. 
But  His  Majesty  did  not  hear.  It  was  the 
Prince  who  drowned  the  warning. 

"Oh,  come!"  he  exclaimed;  "this  is  going 
farther  than  I  bargained  for.  I  can't  stand  all 
this  talk  about  'doubting'  and  'proving.'  The 
whole  thing  - 

"Is  for  me  to  explain,  not  you,"  broke  in 
Sylvia.  "It  is  my  right.  I  will  not  have  it 
taken  from  me.  Maximilian,  last  night  you 
said  that  you  cared  for  me,  or  —  this  would 
never  have  happened.  A  few  moments  ago 
you  asked  if  the  Prince's  hunting-lodge  were  a 
fit  place  for  me  to  remind  you  of  that,  and  I 
answered  'yes.'  It  was  not  time  to  tell  you  why, 


310  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

then,  but  it  is  time  now.  I  said  that  this  was 
the  proper  place,  because  it  is  my  brother's 
house,  and  if  we  are  ever  to  be  anything  to  one 
another,  it  is  fitting  that  my  brother  should  put 
my  hand  in  yours." 

"At  last,  then,  I  can  introduce  my  sister, 
Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald,"  ejacu 
lated  the  Crown  Prince  of  Abruzzia,  with  a 
sigh  of  overwhelming  relief. 


For  a  moment  nobody  spoke.  The  room 
seemed  to  ring  with  Friedrich's  words,  with  the 
name  which,  till  now,  had  held  so  little  music 
for  Maximilian's  ears.  He  heard  it  and  w^as 
speechless,  even  as  the  Chancellor  was  speech 
less.  He  looked  at  Friedrich,  as  if  he  would 
have  spoken;  he  looked  at  Sylvia,  and  forgot 
to  speak.  She  held  out  her  hands  once  more, 
and  with  an  impulse  which  he  did  not  strive 
to  control,  he  went  down  upon  one  knee  as  he 
caught  and  kissed  them. 

Long  ago  she  had  vowed  that  he  should  bend 
the  knee  to  her,  if  he  were  to  win  her;  but  now 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  311 

that  the  prophecy  proved  true,  she  bade  him 
rise  as  he  whispered  the  one  word  "Forgive!" 

"Oh,  it  is  I  who  must  be  forgiven!"  she  said, 
with  tears  instead  of  triumph  in  her  voice. 
"You  don't  half  understand  yet." 

Friedrich  and  Count  von  Markstein  stole  from 
the  room  and  were  not  missed.  Their  parts 
were  played. 

"I  want  no  explanation,"  Maximilian  an 
swered.  "I  want  only  you." 

"I  won't  try  to  tell  you  how  it  all  began  — 
not  now.  But  my  ears  tingle  still  with  some 
words  which  my  actions  gave  you  the  right  to 
speak,"  she  urged.  "Last  night  I  wanted  to 
go  into  a  convent,  and,  above  all  things,  I  wished 
to  get  away  from  Rhaetia.  We  were  forced  to 
wait,  because  of  Miss  M'Pherson's  illness. 
When  Count  von  Markstein  called,  we  excused 
ourselves.  But  when  Fritz's  card  came  up,  it 
was  different.  We  couldn't  guess  whether  or 
not  he  really  knew  who  we  were.  His  face  of 
surprise  showed  us  he  didn't.  At  first  he  was 
going  to  be  secretive;  but  Fritz  isn't  good  at 
fibs,  unless  he's  had  time  to  prepare  them;  and 


312  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 
a  plot  he'd  just  been  concocting  with  the  Chan 
cellor  all  came  out.  The  truth  was,  he'd  taken 
me  for  an  actress  with  whom  I'm  afraid  he'd 
been  flirting  in  Abruzzia.  It  seems  he'd  in 
formed  her  that  there  might  one  day — be 
something  between  his  sister  and  the  Emperor  of 
Rhaetia;  she  knew,  too,  that  the  real  De  Courcys 
were  Fritz's  cousins,  for  she'd  met  them  when 
acting  in  Calcutta.  Altogether,  for  these  and 
other  reasons,  he  fancied  I  might  be  Miss  Brand, 
seeking  revenge  for  a  slight  by  humiliating  his 
sister.  Imagine  how  he  felt  when  he  saw  me! 
And  here's  the  point  where  Count  von  Markstein 
turned  into  my  guardian  angel,  instead  of 
driving  me  from  Eden  with  a  flaming  sword. 
He'd  told  Fritz  that  you  were  searching  for 
Mary  de  Courcy  to  ask  her  to  be  the  Empress. 
At  this,  from  being  the  most  miserable,  I  became 
the  happiest  girl  on  earth.  I  forgave  Fritz, 
he  forgave  me,  and  —  I  at  last  induced  him  to 
let  the  plot  be  carried  out  to  the  end.  I  hadn't 
doubted  what  that  end  would  be  till  you  came 
into  this  room  and  I  saw  the  look  in  your  eyes. 
It  was  like  a  dagger  of  ice  in  my  heart.  Tell 


THE  THIRD  COURSE  313 

me  you  forgive  me  for  everything.  Tell  me 
that,  if  I'd  been  different,  and  content  with 
conventionalities,  you  would  not  have  loved  me 


more." 


He  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  held  her  as  if 
he  would  never  let  her  go.  "If  you  had  been 
different,  I  would  not  have  loved  you  at  all," 
he  said.  "Yet  if  things  had  been  different,  I 
could  not  have  helped  but  love  you,  just  the 
same.  I  should  have  been  bound  to  fall  in  love 
with  Princess  Sylvia  of  Eltzburg-Neuwald  at 
first  sight,  as  I  fell  in  love  with  Mary  de  Courcy." 

"Ah,  but  at  best  you  would  have  fallen  in 
love  with  Sylvia  because  it  was  your  duty. 
And  you  fell  in  love  with  Mary  because  it  was 
your  duty  not  to.  Which  makes  it  so  much 
better." 

"It  was  no  question  of  duty,  but  of  fate,"  the 
Emperor  persisted.  "The  stars  ordained  that 
I  should  love  you." 

"Then  I  wish"  —  and  Sylvia  laughed  happily, 
as  she  could  afford  to  laugh  now  —  "that  the 
stars  had  told  me  last  summer.  It  would  have 
saved  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  And  yet  I 


314  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  PRINCESS  SYLVIA 

don't  know,"  she  added  more  slowly.  "It  has 
been  a  wonderful  adventure.  We  shall  think 
of  it  when  we  are  old." 

"We  shall   never  be   old,   for  we  love  each 
other,"  said  the  Emperor. 

THE  END 


IOAN  DEPT. 


.General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARlEi 


